Education is not regarded as the most significant risk factor for reoffending but there is an undeniable link between a lack of education and crime.

I needed closure to help me live a normal life, but it was not forthcoming. I was reaching out for closure but it never came.

The inevitable monotony of another day decays your precious time, alongside your brain cells as you get trapped listening to those who surround you once again.

As the months went by, I started to think about what could be done in that time. I started to see time in a different light.

Recently, I left my job as a police officer. When people asked why I left the police force, I said it was because my values misaligned with the job. And yet my certificate of service hangs in a frame on my wall. The irony is not lost on me.

One of the things I noticed as I entered my grimy first cell in jail was that there were no glass mirrors on the walls. I quickly found out that glass mirrors are banned in jail; no doubt because glass can be easily smashed, shattered and used as a weapon.

When I was arrested, I had a job, a family, friends. When they sent me to jail, I lost it all. Because that’s the true punishment. You lose your life. You break the law, so you are destroyed.

Remand. Difficult times. Difficult times!!! Being on remand, in my opinion, is one of the most trying and testing parts of being in jail.

Last Sunday night I watched a movie called Patch Adams. It’s a comedy about a man called Patch Adams, played by Robin Williams, and his journey through medical school and becoming a doctor. He decides to become a doctor after his own experience in a mental hospital.

As a young person, I admired my grandfather so much that I feared him. He is the kind of man that commands respect; a military man who doesn’t put up with any funny business.