Richard Taylor (Evangelist & Author)

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[Richard Taylor http://www.richardtaylor.org.uk] was born in South Wales and grew up against a background of crime and drugs. It all began when he started smoking cannabis at the age of just 13 years old. His home life was challenging with his dad leaving the family when Richard was ten years old.cannabis.jpg What happened in the early years shaped much of Richards thinking as he grew up with anger, bitterness, and resentment in life.

At 13 Richard was looking for a new family and found it in the acceptance of gang known as the town boys. It was inevitable that along with his new found family Richard’s life would spiral out of control.

A life of drug taking and crime followed for the next few years seeing Richard in and out of the courts and police stations in South Wales. By now he was well known to the police and the regional crime squad were monitoring him as he embarked upon more organised acts of crime and violence. At 16 he managed to rack up a list of 30 offences ranging from drug related crimes to a spate of burglaries around his home town. Around the same time Richard was introduced to a range of drugs and eventually ended up injecting substances such as speed (Amphetamine) and heroin.

The drugs took over Richard’s life forcing him into more crime and it was only a matter of time before he found himself in police custody facing time in prison.

At just 15 he was remanded to HMP Swansea and here in extract from his book ‘To catch a thief’ he describes that moment.prison_bars.jpg

“ It was a sound unlike anything I had heard before. Even though I knew it was coming, nothing prepared me for its impact. It hit my senses with a finality, and a shock that is difficult to explain, unless you too have experienced it. The crash of the heavy steel door against its frame, echoed around the building. It was the sound of a cell door being closed - and I was on the inside. I stared at it; solid, and indifferent to my feelings, or those of any other person it ever enclosed. The door locked without a key, and only a spy hole interrupted its blankness. My stomach knotted with fear as I wondered how I had got myself into such a mess. I also felt ashamed that I had let my mum down so badly. She had worked so hard to raise her family alone, and didn’t deserve the worry and anxiety I knew she would feel knowing that, at just fifteen, the oldest of her four sons was now in jail. ”swanseahmp.jpg

What followed was a life of repeat offending and frequent stays within the prison fraternal. Even while Richard was in prison he continued with dealing and other underhanded plots against many of the inmates.

Now 18 Richard was once again on Remand and had been for 6 months waiting for a sentence. It seemed that his latest offence would give him at least 2 to 3 years in prison. During his remand time he was introduces by the prison chaplain to an organisation called Victory Outreach UK. They asked Richard if he wanted help to sort his life out. A series of events took place that saw Richard amazingly bailed to reside within their hostel. The first night he arrived Richard was confronted with his misspent youth and recalls having an encounter with God that radically changed his life.

Today Richard is the Associate Pastor of a large thriving church in the Midlands and is an established author and TV presenter having presented BBC’s series ‘To catch a thief’. He speaks to audiences of thousands around the country and in other parts of the world.

To purchase Richard Biography visit here[1]