Against All Odds: The Most Amazing True-life Story You'll Ever Read

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In the end, that is the choice Paul made. He went on to train a-list celebrities like Elle Macpherson in Hollywood and has now written a chart-topping book telling his remarkable story which has been optioned for a movie – all the way from being thrown out with the rubbish to his rise to success.

Unfortunately, I was really disappointed with Paul’s attitude throughout the entire book. He’s brought up in children’s homes with horrific experiences, so some could say that he practises all that he has ever known. But Paul’s mentality towards violence, and the amount of times he resorts to violence, is awful. He uses phrases such as ‘because they were scum and they deserved it’ to justify his actions; no Paul, violence is not justified just because someone is ‘scum’. He uses violence so much, that it is clear he is a bully just like the people he is brought up around, and yet doesn’t recognise he is using the same behaviours that he has grown up to despise. I cannot abide how he thinks violence in these situations is okay, and the way he talks about it is so blasé. In one act of violence he fractures someone’s skull. He also says that he has never been involved in petty crime. Perhaps never been involved in petty crime, but caused physical damage to plenty of people and avoided being caught.The boys were subjected to horrific assaults from a gang of paedophiles who would enter the dormitories at night. Paul was transferred to St Leonard's Children's Home in Hornchurch, which use to be situated between a bus garage and a park. Daniel O'Malley, a detective inspector who heads the continuing investigation, suggested that there could have been as many as 70 victims during those years. He then attended lessons to learn how to read and write in his 20s, because he felt it would aid his career as a boxer.

This book was a real eye opener for me and has made me grateful for my own childhood. Paul Connolly was abandoned as a baby and wound up in an awful children's home, where all the children suffered some level of abuse. This book was not easy reading at times as Paul explains how there was a lot of emotional, psychological, physical and also sexual abuse in the home. I felt my eyes fill up with tears many times. It is a true testament to just what a character Paul has managed to become though, as through all the horrors in his story he also managed to make me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.These were the first sort of serious role models that I found weren’t trying to bugger me or beat me up.” he recalls. He left school at 14 and started work on a veg stall in Romford market. He looked set to become a professional boxer and was about to sign a contract at the age of 18, when a severe accident meant that he technically died from loss of blood. The next few years were a struggle.

A third social worker, Hayden Davies, 79, who was convicted for buggering a teenage boy in 1981, faced 37 charges of indecent assault, rape and buggery, had proceedings dropped against him after the loss of evidence meant a fair trial was not possible. Paul has spoken of how the children would not go to school as they would be bullied following the abuse at the children's home, and instead would go and ride horses. He became involved with Operation Mapperton to uncover the child abuse that took place at the children's home.

Then, at the age of eight he was moved to St leonard’s children’s home in Tower Hamlets. It was to be a life-changing move, for all the wrong reasons. From the Principal, down, the home was run by a paedophile ring. From then on, Paul’s childhood and schooling was fi lled with violence and mental torture.

That’s no revenge; your life is over, your revenge should be to go on and have a happy family and to be a successful man and prove these people wrong.” His latest book, Not Normal , was released earlier this month and Paul says it is even more detailed than the first. Read More Related Articles The home's superintendent, a former Labour councillor, Alan Prescott, 79, had indecently assaulted four teenage boys at various points during the 1970s. Instead, Paul began getting interested in boxing. Although he originally intended to become a professional boxing champion, this was no longer an option after an accident. Instead, he became a personal trainer/fitness coach and went on to become very successful with that. He now is married and has two boys. In another section of the book he talks about going to night classes to learn English, and refers to others in the class as ‘real retards’. What an awful thing to say. Paul and his peers were all in the same boat, trying to better themselves by learning to read and write, yet he has the audacity to refer to them with such awful words.It featured 13 cottages housing up to 300 children at any given time and saw 3,000 children pass through between 1965 and 1984 when it was closed. The home was made up of several dormitories where the children would sleep, with up to 12 beds in each building. Read More Related Articles