Terry Waite

Waite. He rejects the “walking saint” tag when he displays considerable sympathy for people judged by the public, or found guilty by courts, of heinous offences.

During his own captivity he’d try to cheer himself up by remembering travels with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.

The journeys are revived in a republished, whimsical memoir, Travels with a Primate, projecting the good natured humour of a now elderly man who would have every right to resent his imprisonment but prefers to seek positives in everything and the goodness in everyone.

“We need to look for the best in people and try to bring it out,” he says.

The son of a Cheshire policeman, who returned to but left because of an allergy to the dye in uniform.

Adult education adviser to the Bishop of Bristol; trainer in Africa; consultant in Rome; Archbishop’s Special Envoy. Beirut to forgive those who inflicted 1,763 days of hell, he has a house in Suffolk and collects clocks.

At an age when many people put their feet up, he remains involved in a campaign against homelessness, advises individuals and families who, like himself, find themselves in hostage situations and prison reform.

Waite maintains most people behaving badly, often incredibly badly, can and will be transformed if we put the emphasis on rehabilitation instead of locking them up in nightmare prisons.

Quoting official figures warning nine in every 10 inmates suffer psychosis, depression, alcoholism, drug addiction and other problems, he’s convinced stopping men and women offending then reoffending would be beneficial for society as a whole.

“Simply to put them in an institution where they have no hope is dreadful,” says Waite. “I can sympathise, I really can, if you’re broken into and your house is trashed you’re going to be fed up.

“Locking people up without hope isn’t helpful. I have experience of that, five years, I know how difficult it is not being able to do anything.”

Demanding radical reform of prisons, ending degrading treatment in crumbling buildings, Waite is insistent he isn’t ignoring the impact burglaries, robberies, violence and murders have on victims and families.

“I’m not being soft on crime. I must emphasise that,” he says. “I don’t like crime and I think it’s really something we must combat but having said that I believe in rehabilitation.”

Terry Waite’s Travels with a Primate – Around the World with Robert Runcie is republished by SPCK. £9.99