His story is a shocking insight into a society where the rules are made by gangland leaders and if anybody dare break them they have to deal with the consequences. Cummines began a criminal career at the age of 16, beating up those who owed associates money, but quickly moved on, becoming Britain's youngest armed robber. An explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britain's most dangerous men 'I am not a gangster,' I spat.

The book comes across as a memoir interview, but it does seem to lack any sort of real passion, but that might just be reflective of times Bobby grew up in. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. He did, however, feel sorry for one death; a hostage in a routine bank heist died due to suffering a serious panic attack, where he vomited and choked on a gag. At 16, BOBBY CUMMINES became one of the youngest people in Britain to be convicted of carrying a sawn-off shotgun.

Bobby is one of the UK's leading penal reformers and has advised Ministers and Judges as well as public and private sector agencies on prison and rehabilitation. The book was okay I would have liked to hear more about his life of crime rather than his work after his time in prison.

I Am Not A Gangster" is a blisteringly honest account of the inner workings of the most infamous crime syndicates known and life inside Britain's most notorious jails, but above all it's a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history. Read more about the condition Very Good: A book that has been read and does not look new, but is in excellent condition.

Queen Elizabeth II awarded Cummines the OBE in June 2011 in recognition of his services to reformed offenders. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majesty's Prison Service to coming face-to-face with the Queen herself. You feel all emotions when reading this book and it is a very powerful honest account of a difficult life but of someone who came through. Cummines was sentenced to 18 years when an arms dealer (referred to as "Ernie" in his autobiography) informed and told the authorities almost everything Cummines and his gang had done.

How did this UK crime lord end up being feted by the rich and famous and be awarded an honour from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II? As well as sharing in detail his criminal hey days he also spends more than a third of the book on his incarceration and how reading and learning led him to campaign and eventually set up charities to look at ways for the Criminal Justice system to stop focusing on punishment and try to focus on giving the prisoners the ways and means to live more productive non-criminal lives on their release. Cummines turned his life around in prison after a conversation with Charlie Richardson, who urged him to become educated and earn money without hurting anyone. From a brief description of his early life to a more heavy part involving his time as a gangland boss and as a convict, it really is gripping. I first saw a random clip of Bobby Cummines being interviewed on social media, and was so captivated by his brief story, I just had to get his book.If you ask, he'll tell you he was simply a businessman and it just so happened his business was that of a hitman, armed robber and fixer. There are a lot of books around about the various criminals and their exploits but few end on a high note, and this has a welcome note of positivity. He also used a brutal method common in the underworld, filling his shotgun with rock salt instead of buckshot–doing less damage but causing serious pain and removing any forensic evidence.

At 16, Bobby Cummines became one of the youngest people in Britain to be convicted of carrying a sawn-off shotgun. Cummines said that with a criminal record, it was incredibly difficult to find another job, and so thought "if you're gonna make me a bad guy, I'll show you how bad I can be. He quickly became a gangland leader and was convicted of a number of serious offences including manslaughter and bank robbery.This led authorities to designate him as a class "A" prisoner, causing him to be frequently moved from one prison to another. Its very very rare I actually want to read a book, but after watching an interview with this guy I was hooked. Bobby was sent to prison for the first time in 1967, aged 16, and over the next decade he established himself as a hardened criminal running protection rackets and robberies against a backdrop of all-out gang warfare, where doorstep slayings and bloody shoot-outs were common. Cummines has criticised the system of high-security prisons, which places many brilliant criminal minds in one location and thus enables them to teach each other tricks and establish connections. Two police officers allegedly mistreated the two during interrogations, which led Cummines to speak up, saying that as the two involved were minors, an adult had to be present during questioning.