When I was 19 as the title states I was sentenced to 16 years for a series of armed robberies I had committed. I served 12 years of my 16 year sentence in prison in the UK. I was released in 2021 and have turned my life around. I know have a steady job with a decent income and live comfortably.
I’ve tried not to go into too much detail here as I want to leave it to you to ask what you want to know, I’m not proud of the things I’ve done but I hope you can learn something from me. So please ask me anything.
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How dangerous was the prison you were in?
What was the most valuable lesson you learned in prison?
Do you feel your 12 year sentence was deserved?
What was your first meal out of prison?? Glad to hear you’ve found a good life since
What did you rob? Stores, homes, banks, individuals etc?
What was your home life like? Were both you parents involved in your upbringing?
What was your daily routine like?
Gun or knife? Would the charge be the same in the uk for either?
Do you remember what day 1 of your sentence was like?
What did you miss the most about home while being locked up?
Did you learn anything from your experience behind bars?
What’s the craziest thing you saw in prison?
How does one get sentenced to 16 years for an armed robbery at 19? Did you have any priors? Did you kill/hurt/injure the person that you were trying to rob?
What are some slangs that you have learned that are in the UK prison culture?
Did you think you have learned a lot about human behavior during those times than most of the regular people do in thier life time?
Having being released, do you ever find that life is boring, and itching for the adreanaline that robbery has scratched before?
Having finished serving your sentence do you find yourself feeling like youre not a free man?
Have you accept Jesus to pay for your sins? If no, do you know that there is a hell you could be in forever? John 3:16
What’s something that changed about the world while you were in prison that surprised you the most?
Was it easy to get drugs in prison? Or maybe a cell phone?
I hear crime back at the start of the 2010s and in the 2000s was really bad, before you got bagged did you see in your own area à lot of crime in that time?
How hard was it for you to adjust after getting released? What aspect of the world seemed new to you after getting released? Did you think of breaking out of prison at some point of time?
Can you and did you make good friends during all these years? If yes, are you still friends with them?
Did you do any courses while you were in prison and if so which ones? Thanks for an interesting AMA too.
Do you feel like crime as a lifestyle was an idea you were into as a kid or was it more of a desperation and poverty kind of situation?
Did you have to do one of those “find the biggest guy and start a fight” things or were you able to put your head down? Do they pick on new guys is what I’m asking I guess.
What was the transition between HMP YOI and normal HMP like? And how long did you do in Cat-D before release?
Did you commit a string of robberies and finally got caught? Or were you busted on the first one? Also how much were you able to steal from the betting shops?
Is uk prison all about race, like are there prison gangs and rules and stuff like there is in the USA
This is a vague question; what made you keep going? In prison. And once you got out. Like you said, you spent a lot of “prime” years inside. And ive never served time or anything but i feel like ive wasted my “prime years” If you get what im saying. Probably a bad question. But I’m glad you are doing well now. And hope you continue to garner blessings
I’m co in the states. What was your day to day like? How was your commissary? Inmates at the prison I work can buy TVs and Nintendo switches, and can be out of their cells about 8 hours a day.
Is it as hard to survive in prison as they portray on television, etc.? Like, was it a struggle for survival? Is there r*pe and such? Sorry if that’s a hard question!
Kind of weird question but is prison rape bad over in the UK? Did you ever have to defend yourself in prison for any reason?
I have a cousin that got to prison yesterday. It has been so hard on my entire family. Im scared for him. Can you please tell me what your first week was like and how you kept yourself going?
I read the autobiography of Noel Razor Smith, who also had long career as a professional armed robber. He talks about the addictiveness of the adrenalin hit during a robbery. Different time and approach obviously, however did you feel the same way or was it more crime of necessity?
Hey mate, that sucks you missed out on your 20’s.
Are you going to try make up for it by taking a trip overseas?
Also what career are you in? Did the prison system help you educate?
I’m glas doe you having a steady job and what sounds like a good life.
What do you think the chance of you or folks you served time with in the UK becoming a recidivist?
Because here in the US it seems pretty damn high unless you get some real help right away on getting out.
more curious about the armed robbery part. how were the nerves? like some pregame jitters? if you had them how did you calm them? was it just like another day?
how did you get your 1st job after serving your time?
I’ve read studies that indicate the crime of armed robbery has one of the highest rates of recidivism, likely due to the “high” that’s generated by forcibly taking something of value from someone. Did this mentality play a role at all in your criminal history? Just genuinely curious if you can relate to this theory.
Are you a native of the UK?
How aware/up to date were you of the current world? Things like technology, social media, even to a degree geopolitical stuff and trade wars etc.
Do you still get information of the advancements happening? Or is it like Steve Rogers coming out the ice and seeing a new world
Did you have a Correctional Officer (I don’t know if that’s their title in UK) that you felt comfortable enough that you could go to if you needed something or had trouble with an inmate? Or were most of the Officers not trustworthy
How has dating been for you since you got out? Is it something you mention immediately or do you try to see where it might go first before dropping the bomb? Or just don’t mention it and hope they don’t find out?
Did that famous “institutionalized” scene from Shawshank redemption hold any truth to it? (Like you actually miss part of prison and struggle to function in daily life)?
Most ordinary people living a normal life would be terrified and scarred for life at having a masked criminal waving around a machete at their face, do you think you can ever sincerely apologise to them in person to prove you are a changed man and make some sort of reparations to their traumatic experience? Thank you.
How is prison in the uk set up, in California here in the states we always hear about the notorious race segregation in prison where the aryan brotherhood and the black guerrlia family and Mexican mafia all go at it, is it similar in the United Kingdom’s penal system? Or is it more gang run, or just run based off respect of one and other
did you find any benefit in incarceration? were you given opportunities for education, training, anything to that might help you integrate better into society on release? if so did these things help? if not what do you think would help people avoid crime, improve their lives when they get out?
I curious about the psychology of robbing someone. What were you thinking before, during, and after it happened? Were you nervous or was it more of an adrenaline rush?
Was there a Library in prison – like you could borrow books to read? And was the quality of books good in terms of reading e.g. you had access to literary works as well as good non-fiction?
How accurate are movies on when it comes to prison. Is it really like if you drop the soap you get fucked. Is it really divided heavily by race? Do lots of people get into fights? The whole thing, what’s it like? Also good job turning your life around! A lot has changed over the last 12 years.
Bonus question. What was the hardest thing to get used to when you got out?
We always hear about repeat offenders. How sure are you that you will never get sent back? What are you doing to make sure it will never happen?
Also, unrelated…did you get a job when you got out? If so, doing what?
u/Ambitious-Choice1725
Not being discriminatory here or anything.I have never been to the UK. I want to ask if you can provide a general idea of the breakdown of percentage in terms of ethnicity , like for armed robbery, etc. years ago when you were still in that life and now? What is the general make up in terms of ethnicity in the prison where you got incarcerated?
Was poverty, and also level of education has something to do with this? I think UK is a very progressive country, and I’m sure the rate of crime in your place even from decades ago is much lower compared to we where I’m from.
It is good to know that you Are now a productive member of the society.God Bless
Did you have the liberty to do things for your personal development in prison? Were there classes and activities that inmates could take part of? E.G. if you liked drawing or playing an instrument or reading were you able to pursue that?
Fine all ask.
Were you raped? Did you witness or hear about anyone being raped?
I feel like this is a common concern with going to prison. Sorry for the bluntness not sure how else to ask
Just wanted to say I really appreciate your answers. You seem like a decent, thoughtful guy.
I have an in-law who’s a federal prison guard here in the US. He’s a good dude, I think, though his choice of profession is a little strange to me. One thing he told me that sticks with me is that he said there really aren’t enough guards to actually effectively police the prison, so their job is partially just to engineer the situation so that problems are minimized — ie, a lot of de facto racial segregation, keeping people from opposing gang backgrounds away from each other, identifying the prisoners who seem reasonable and who they can work with and trying to subtly elevate them to authority positions. He said: “the inmates really do run the prison, we just try to keep a lid on things and steer them in the most stable direction.” I’m curious if that was consistent with your experience? Was it mostly a self-governing inmate situation? Were there little negotiations and understandings with the guards?
(It does occur to me that the way he describes his job might be a bit of self-justification.)
I’m assuming you regret your actions. But….
When did that regret start? The moment you were caught?
I have the same question for guilt.
Do you feel guilt for your actions? When did that start? Whilst you were doing it? Or did you have to go to prison to start feeling guilt? And how long?
What went through your head first time you were about to commit an armed robbery? Were you locked in, scared or just full of adrenaline and didn’t think much of it?
Do that many people actually resort to gays sex?
What was the process like of you getting a job with you being an ex, I don’t know, convict, or whatever, like did you have to explain this to your employer and things like tha? was a difficult to find employment? did you feel any discrimination because you were an ex convic or whatever ( sorry I don’t know the jail terms very well)
Do you think of those victims you petrified and may have damaged psychologically by your crime?
Should school kids be brought to prison to listen to and learn from your mistakes?
I was also sentenced when I was 19 for bank robbery back in 2019. I was granted probation for 5 years and released on half for good behavior.
Wild knowing this very well could have been me with a less lenient judge.
Hope you’re doing well friend 🙏 , keep your head held high.
When you’re locked up in your cell is there anything you can do to entertain yourself? Can you read for example? Could you do school or college courses?
How did you go about getting your life back on track? Was it hard to get employment for example having spent that time in prison?
As a former prison guard, I’m very happy that you’ve turned your life around. Best of luck to you and yours in the future. ,🇺🇲👍🏻
What about time in jail? Are those days passing slowly or after few years time is flying. What were your most common thoughts inside? Do you have some good and bad stories? Did somebody threaten you inside? Are fights common? What was your day in the life? Did you had a girlfriend while you were inside?
If someone’s never had a fight before prison, and people start messing with them so they throw a punch to defend themself but take a kicking would they generally be left alone because they stood up for themselves, or would it be more likely people would see they could beat them in a fight and they’d be more of a target.
Thank you for this AMA, I think we are about the same age.
Did you struggle to get into employment with previous convictions?
What was the biggest material thing you missed and didn’t have access to?
So happy to hear you’re doing well and have rebuilt yourself 🙂
I did everything right and am homeless at 41. Ain’t life a peach.
Congratulations on turning things around though. Love seeing stories about successful second chances!
In my experience jail was worse than prison. 3 Men in a cell 24 hours a day. Only one has a bed. the other 2 sleep on the floor. No window. Could only look at the guard as they passed by to do the count. Food made me want to vomit. It was mostly some form of oatmeal. Only lunch was a real meal and it was always garbage. In prison there was routine. You had freedom to move about. You could go to the library or the yard or lift weights or go to your religious practice. They had classes you could take. Food was still terrible but at least it wasn’t some form of oatmeal or porridge. None of this was actually fun times and I hated it but time passes faster when you keep busy which you can’t really do in jail but can do in prison.
how many prisons did you live in?
range of security level
what % of people in higher security are decent people/bad choices/bad childhood/etc?
what % are evil/scary?…………..
we had a few scary bullies in primary and junior high.. i believe all were adopted.. maybe fetal alcohol? or just bad first 5 years of life.. but i feel like they enjoyed seeing others in mental pain