Shane Taylor was considered to be one of the most dangerous prisoners in British jails. Originally jailed for attempted murder he had his sentence extended by four years after he attacked a prison officer with a broken glass in an incident that provoked a riot. After that he did time in some of the most secure category A prisons in the country and was often held in solitary confinement due to his violence toward prison officers.
Shane’s father suffered from Schizophrenia and would frequently beat his mother. When he was a baby she escaped to a battered wives home near Middlesbrough but His father pursued her causing his mother to keep on the move and once broke into the house of a lady who took her in and beat her up also. Whilst still a baby his mum remarried a man named Gordon who became a great father to Shane. At the tender age of six Shane began to mix with other kids who were always getting into trouble, nicking sweets and trainers but despite getting caught, smacked or grounded it didn’t bother him. Mum and Dad tried everything to keep him out of trouble but nothing worked and later he began going to court for burglaries and robberies and repeated court appearances did not deter him. Shane began mixing with older lads and went missing for days on end doing car crime and burglaries often having thousands of pounds in his pocket, he would give much of it away. He was arrested hundreds of times and despite knowing it was wrong, he could not stop, thinking he was too young to go to prison. Constantly grounded and even having his clothes taken away he would steal his dads and escape. He realised that they loved him but he didn’t listen.
Shane was expelled from a number of schools and ended up at a residential school in Durham but repeatedly escaped to do crime. Shane was then sent to a secure unit and after escaping was sent to Deerholt prison where he ripped off a table leg and started a riot which led to his transfer to the segregation unit at Wetherby prison aged 16 where he barricaded himself in his cell threatening prison officers with a metal bar. Following his move to Moorland prison he was placed on the wing for dangerous offenders but eventually got released after keeping his head down.
On his release he became increasingly violent fighting people whenever he could, seeking out the local hard men and built up a violent reputation for himself. He loved the power that it gave him and the fear he was able to instill in others. He felt that he was somebody. He continued stealing and always carried a knife and developed a hatred of the police or any form of authority. At 19 having stabbed two local hard men and robbed a drug dealer, he was on the run and when caught he was charged with G.B.H. and sentenced to four years at Holme house prison. His reputation went before him and the word was not to mess with Shane and it made him feel like a King.
It was here that he took umbrage at how a prison officer spoke to him, he instigated a riot and in the melee he stabbed the officer three times with a broken coffee jar and received another four years to his sentence. He was sent to Durham prison and put in segregation but because of this threats to kill officers he was sent to Franklin maximum security prison and put into the C.S.C (close supervision centre). here prisoners were deemed so dangerous that there can be no physical contact between prisoner and prison officer with just a small hatch to give food, exercise was taken in a small caged yard. Occasionally he would kick off and smash up the toilets for which he would be put in a strip cell and searched. It was dark and cold with just a cardboard toilet pan, it was so cold he could not sleep.
At the age of 26 having been in prison since he was 19 he ended up in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. They told him that he was being given a chance and that if he showed respect he would be given respect in return but he ended up selling drugs and making a bit of money. It was at this time he met a Christian man by the name of Robert Bull. Robert was in prison for murder and told Shane that he had become a born again Christian and some of the things he said sounded weird to Shane "I’ve been in prison 15 years, will probably never get out but I feel free". He kept giving Shane little 'Why Jesus' booklets which Shane would read every now and again when he got bored. Shane realised that fighting the system did not work so he began to pay others with the money he got from selling drugs to disrupt prison life, setting off alarms and fires and engineering chaos. After a while the officers twigged who was behind it and Shane again ended up in segregation and again he smashed up his cell and went on dirty protest but as he sat amid the chaos he had a vision of the Christian Robert Bull and a strong urge to write to him. After a few days struggle he wrote explaining his vision and urge to write to him. Robert wrote back "The Lord is trying to open your eyes and heart-just let go" Shane thought he was crazy.
Four months later Shane was moved to Long Martin prison and as he walked toward his cell he was met by a Church minister. He told the minister that he had been reading the Bible and the minister invited him to do the Alpha course. A few months later his cell door opened and was told to go to the education department. When he walked in he discovered it was the Alpha course. He didn’t really know what the course involved but signed up anyway not least because they got coffee biscuits and Gateau. He was not really searching for God but still Shane attended each session which had a video with Nicky Gumbel preaching, at this stage he was still more interested in the chocolate biscuits than the debates, science had disproved it all he told himself.
The last session was on the Holy Spirit and each person got prayed for and the minister Eddie Baker laid his hands on Shane. Eddie asked him to go back later and Shane agreed. He went back and they went through some bible verses together Eddie put his hands on him and asked Shane to pray from his heart for forgiveness "Jesus I know you died on the cross for me. Please I don’t like who I am, please please forgive me". As Shane sat back he started to feel a weird feeling in his belly and it started to bubble up through his body and the tears welled up and he sobbed like a baby and could not hold it back. Eddie gently told him "that’s Jesus, that’s the holy spirit" Shane went back to his cell excitedly telling everybody that "Jesus was real" Everything changed overnight and despite provocation, he started seeing people in a different more positive light , he began helping others and praying for people. When he was tempted to violence he sank to his knees instead to pray for forgiveness.
When he came out of prison he started going to Church, he had no job and was struggling with life outside but after praying there was a knock at the door and the manager from the local store offered him a job. Seven months later Shane met Sam who used to be a real rebel doing hard drugs and criminal acts. They started going out together and after a while he started talking to her about Jesus and suggested she went with him to Church which she finally agreed to. During the service a lady got up and said "there is somebody here who has suffered" and then went on to name certain things. Everything she said had happened to Sam and her life totally changed as she too became a Christian. From then their relationship grew stronger and they were married in October 2008, Eddie took the service and Shane cried throughout the ceremony. Shane has changed beyond belief, he loves all people even the most hardened criminals, he knows how to love and forgive, he no longer blames the world. Since becoming a Christian he has committed not one criminal act or been violent, though he still struggles sometimes with anger. He has met with many of the people who he hurt and said sorry, he asked forgiveness. He now helps with Alpha courses in maximum security prisons. Jesus has transformed Shane’s life
Summary and References from Life Change- Mark Elsden -Dew