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The former London gangster says youngsters living in poverty are most at risk of spiralling into a life of violent crime. Read More Related Articles Speaking to The Voice, he said: “When they pulled us, I knew I was wanted, and knew I would be going to prison. It is also not a book with an entirely happy ending, because life is much more complicated than that. Yes, Smith is now on the straight and narrow. Yes, he’s doing his best to atone for his sins and pass his life lessons onto younger generations. But his past has not necessarily been forgotten or forgiven, even by those closest to him. Unable to see the scene, when he heard the final gunshot he thought his colleague had been murdered.
The book Out of the Box has been updated by the pair and it could potentially be adapted into an on-screen production. Mr Smith, then 25, was jailed for two years for that escape, 18 years for a firearms offence, and five years for robbery. He was given a 25-year sentence for attempting to murder PC Seymour and 18 years for wounding PC Carroll in the same incident. Mr Seymour who retired from policing in 2014, said the harsh upbringing and the racial inequalities Mr Smith faced, made forgiveness the only option. When I came out the second time, my ex-partner really got my mind opened and thinking, it’s because of her that I made it. She was challenging me about some things and making me look at [others] differently.”
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Amid violent crime reports in and around Birmingham, prisoner-turned-publisher Leroy believes those living in the Second City are "better off" here than in London. Read More Related Articles Out of the Box is an excellent read, a brutally honest account of the making of a criminal, which pulls no punches, or makes excuses, just says it as it was. This is a fascinating and valid account of the cost to society when young, damaged lives are not repaired. It deserves to be very widely read. Now out of the box and free, Leroy Smith is setting out on a new and straighter path. I wish him every success. He has more than paid his dues.' As for Mr Seymour, he wants to see more empathy shown to people who make mistakes and said “people can change and people can forgive.”
I often tell kids who are struggling, 'Get respect the right way, make something of yourself. Then you'll be someone.'" They're all in their own little bubbles and they get their porridge [sent to prison] to learn. They're in a goldfish bowl and they're not realising."Out of the Box is the powerful and revealing story of Leroy Smith, a reformed ex-convict who was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for shooting two police officers in Brixton in 1993. Then Leroy pulled out a handgun out, he hit Simon in the leg with it, then the gun went off again, breaking his thigh bone, he told me to ‘disappear’. Leroy Smith was born in London 1968. His mother, Perlita, was murdered when Leroy was just 2 years old and he was subsequently brought up by grandmother, Gladys, in Clapham, South London. Leroy chose a train station for him and James to meet, as he feared the whole thing might be a ruse to get revenge. A FORMER drug dealer who shot two police officers is now friends with one of them and together they are working to stop young people from turning to crime.
The pair have produced an updated version of Leroy’s book Out Of The Box together and take their story of redemption to at-risk kids.The judge told him that “dreadful crimes must attract dreadful sentences” – and he was given 25 years. He now lives in west London, his home surrounded by CCTV cameras. For the man on the other side of the gun, PC James Seymour, the overriding memory is the feeling of helplessness. Leroy fired another shot which hit me about a centimetre away from my spine, ripped across the top of my kidney and ripped out the side of me,” he said.
The sense of helplessness, I can't tell you what that feeling is like. Physical pain, you can get over or you get through, [but] the mental side [is something else]. Out of the Box describes in a matter-of-fact way his spiral into ever more serious crime. It is neither glamorous, or glamorised. The gun wasn’t just a weapon, it was his everything: a tool for work, a passport into certain circles, the thing that kept him alive but constantly close to death. Leroy was brought up by his grandmother, left school at 13, and was soon in prison for robberies and burglaries. “In the 90s, Brixton was and still is a dangerous place,” he said. “Society is violent but I was more violent because I realised that’s the way you get things done. You start smoking weed when you’re like 13 and crime is everywhere. You start supporting [that habit] and everyday living with petty crime and that escalates.”
About the Wall
Leroy played keyboards in the Manchester soul band who had a number one hit with Sad Sweet Dreamer in 1974.