Paul pulls
SCHOOL assemblies fall into stunned silence when Paul Hannaford talks about the violent realities of gang life.
The former drug addict’s life story is a shocking one which he delivers without pulling any punches.
This month he has been visiting six secondary schools in Huddersfield in a bid to educate pupils about the horrors of drugs and the dangers of carrying knives.
Paul, brought up in East London and Essex, almost lost his life after being stabbed by drug dealers and once nearly lost a leg due to complications caused by injecting drugs.
The award-winning speaker told pupils how he began smoking cannabis and hanging out in a gang from the age of 13.
His dreams of becoming a footballer went up in a cloud of cannabis smoke.
The fast-talking ex-con told pupils at Netherhall Learning Campus at Rawthorpe: “What happened to me could happen to you.
“I was expelled from three schools and chucked out of the football team. I got involved with a gang; there were 10 of us and gang rules said we had to carry a knife. There was fighting with other gangs and by the age of 17 I had been in custody four times.”
By 21 he weighed in at 18 stone but a chance meeting at a party led to dramatic weight loss.
“There was a guy with foil and a lighter who was smoking heroin. I told him to take that rubbish away from me. I associated it with people with no teeth who sat begging outside shops.
“Later, I smoked a little bit (of heroin) and ‘bang’ it got me. I became an addict and lost four stone in 12 months and stopped brushing my teeth.”
Paul developed a £500 a day habit which he funded by stealing £2,000 worth of designer clothes from London department stores – every single day.
He recalled living in filthy ‘crack dens’ littered with syringes and spattered with the blood of various addicts.
At his lowest, he went to his mum’s house and stole her wedding ring in order to get more drugs.
“I robbed her house and took her rings. I had four younger brothers; I took all their computer games.”
Paul told pupils that ‘crack dens’ existed in every town and city including Huddersfield.
He said: “I used to wake up every day in crack dens feeling lonely and hungry. I promise you there are lots of them in Huddersfield. I hope you never wake up in a crack den. I would pick up used needles from the floor and use them.”
Hanging around with addicts and dealers, Paul’s life was constantly in danger.
“I had a debt to pay to some drug dealers. They came up behind me and stabbed me four times. I thought they were punching me.
“A black cab driver helped me and saved my life.”
After coming round in hospital, Paul ripped out all the medical tubes and sneaked out in order to take more drugs.
He told pupils: “I had two guns - a shotgun and a pistol. One night I robbed two drug dealers in Essex. I took their heroin, which was pure, causing me to overdose and have a heart attack.
“I remember waking up in an ambulance - they had saved my life. Blood tests revealed I had blood poisoning and I was told I had three days to live and needed blood transfusions to save my life. I left the hospital.”
Soon afterwards Paul walked into a police station and broke down in