Your Honour Can I Tell You My Story?

How should the authorities respond to kids at risk of crime, drugs and custody? Andi Brierley's story of his progress through care, prison and social rejection to youth justice manager contains countless clues for those who work with troubled young people. It begins with failures to deal with his chaotic early life moving from place to place, fragmented parenting and poor role models. In a family home encircled by criminality, drugs, violence and baffling adults he ended up first in a young offender institution then in prison. There he learned how to act and think as a prisoner for his own survival, something that only made matters worse when trying to re-adapt to the world outside on his release. Caught in a downward spiral, hooked on drugs, partying, not strong enough to resist negative influences and his well-being deteriorating, the book shows how small things made a difference. Random encouragement, positive thoughts, people who gave him a chance, employers and not least those who recognised that his experiences could be put to good use working with young people. The author describes how he never saw himself as a criminal or identified with the world in which he grew-up. The strength of his hard-hitting story lies in how he survived that world, regained self-worth and the messages it contains for professionals and young people in trouble with whom he has forged a remarkable connection.