Going Straight : After Crime And Punishment

Going Straight is the flagship publication behind the launch of Unlock, the National Association of Ex-Offenders. It contains revealing interviews with people who have 'succeeded' after prison and in some cases a 'criminal career'.
The book looks at a range of offenders who have changed their way of life. They include famous, notorious, creative and ordinary people who were prepared to talk about the turning point in their lives when they left crime behind.

Their candid explanations about how they rebuilt their lives -- often full of remorse for their victims and determined to repay something to their communities -- are challenging, illuminating and a cause for optimism.
They include ex-burglar John Bowers (later an editor of prison newspaper Inside Time), former violent criminal Frank Cook (a sculptor and author), ex drug-dealer Peter Cameron (a successful artist whose work features on the front cover), Great Train Robbery mastermind Bruce Reynolds, actor Stephen Fry, former armed gangster Bob Cummines (the first Chief Executive of Unlock) and Cameron Mackenzie (Glasgow villain turned minister of religion). Others include a self-made millionaire, a one-time compulsive gambler, an individual involved in The Troubles in Northern Ireland -- and one or two who chose to use a pseudonym.

Going Straight will be of interest to anyone wishing to understand how and why some offenders reach a point when they leave crime behind them.

Cover illustration by Peter Cameron.

Angela Devlin is a writer, broadcaster and exponent of prisoners' rights whose work has attracted wide interest and acclaim: Criminal Classes (Waterside Press, 1995), Prison Patter: A Dictionary of Prison Slang (Waterside Press, 1996); Anybody's Nightmare: The Sheila Bowler Story (Taverner Publications, 1998), Going Straight After Crime and Punishment with Bob Turney (Waterside Press, 1999) and Cell Mates/Soul Mates (Waterside Press, 2002). Anybody's Nightmare, the true story of a wrongful conviction for murder, was later dramatised for ITV and featured the character 'Angela Devlin' campaigning for the case to be re-opened (The conviction was eventually quashed and the defendant acquitted after a new trial).

Bob Turney's own account of how he overcame drugs, alcoholism, dyslexia and a life of crime is contained in I'm Still Standing and Wanted.

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, when Home Secretary.