Dwaine Patterson was once considered one of Britain’s most DANGEROUS prisoner. Due to this label he was made to serve 7 years straight in solitary confinement as well as 11 years overall.
His story begins at an estate in Wandsworth. He was attacked at 10 years of age by a gang of teens who wanted to take his jacket. Due to this incident he vowed to not allow such a thing to happen ever again. He would strike a teen who he deemed to be the leader of the gang and later began using violence to earn respect of those around him.
During his youth he stated he had an “an appetite for blood”. This appetite led to him cutting off another boys thumb with a meat cleaver at just 13 years old, leading to him serving 5 years in secure units and youth offenders institutions. During his stint at just 15 years old he managed to escape his secure unit and go on the run where he could get another conviction for bank robbery.
His third crime would be a attempted murder where he would shoot two men in a botched robbery. This led to a two-strike life sentence – which is an automatic jail term that his since been abolished. He aimed to rob a van which allegedly had drugs in it. When the victims refused to hand over their goods he fired at them due to his rule at the time which was “If I show you a gun, I use it.”.
Persistent fighting saw Patterson, now 45, moved to some of the countries the toughest prisons. He would begin to change his mentality during his stint but would get setbacks due to allegations of throat slashing and Islamic extremism for which he was never convicted.
He spoke on how unforgiving the adult world is when he left Feltham YOI and would feel despair due to his struggle when it came to finding employment. This led to him going back to his life of crime that put him in prison. He reflects on the past, although he aimed to avoid making non-criminals victims, he realises the mental impact that his actions have on the community.
Prison stories:
Dwaine also spoke about being in prison with many far-right prisoners who would garner sympathy from some prison officers. This often led to reoccurring fights involving the weapons that he claimed prison officers snuck in. He reflects on a sad story which involved some on the far-right and him having sympathy for the individual.
He states that the prisoner’s mother died whilst he was in isolation, this entitled him to a phone call home which the guards didn’t allow him to make. Because of this he ended up having an outburst leading to banging on the door. Guards would eventually storm into his cell and beat him whilst female guards would make a mockery of him as he “wasn’t well endowed”.
Dwaine and his Aspirations:
Dwaine is now an imbedded mentor in schools where he works with at risk children and teens, helping them with issues that my hinder them and giving advice when needed. He stated how more support is needed for these kids who are at risk of gang violence as many who make the decision to change their lives “are forsaken by their friends” whilst still having enemies who would still inflict harm.
He aspires to become a councillor for the Liberal Democrats and has his own clothing brand called Primrose Hill. He also speaks on more topics; for that watch the video at the top of the page or click the link here.
