John G. Sutton was the son of a Police Officer living in a rough Northern Industrial mining community. The sons of coal-mine workers and local mill hands hated what they called ‘Coppers Kids’. From age 8, thrown in at the deep end of a decrepit Victorian back street primary school, John had to fight to survive. If you ever wondered what it was like to battle for your life on the cobbled back streets, this is the book you need to listen. Violent and, at times disturbing, the development of this young man’s personality will shock you. At age 14, John left school; his headmaster wrote on his final report ‘This boy will amount to nothing’.

Leaving school, John worked at a series of mundane jobs: warehouse assistant, weaver in a cotton mill, and as a spinner. His early days were marked by extreme violence, though never with weapons; he fought with his bare fists. Eventually, sick of the grim reality of life on the scrap-heap, John escaped by joining HM Forces, enlisting in the army.

The brutality followed on. There was no escaping the fact that John was marked for life by his aggressive upbringing. In training, he knocked out cold his Sergeant who assaulted him. He completed special forces training at P Company of the Parachute Regiment and was thrown out for dealing with the bullying tactics of young, commissioned officers. It was one battle after another as you will discover within the dark pages of this book.

If you want to know what went into the making of John G. Sutton, the man who became a HMP Manchester Prison Officer, then you must listen to this harrowing, at times hilarious account, of his early life.