Noel Smith

Noel 'Razor' Smith was born in South London and first became acquainted in crime and developed a hatred of the police after being violently attacked. After going into prison, he became more entangled in a criminal lifestyle and he went on to spend most of his adult life inside for a range of crimes including armed robbery. Smith was largely uneducated but he went on to teach himself to read and write while on the inside, entering prison story competitions and after some time coming to the attention of the author Will Self. He managed to secure a publishing contract for his first book A Loaded Gun. It wasn't until after the death of his son, (he missed the funeral as he wasn't allowed out of prison to attend) that Smith really decided to reform his ways, voluntarily entering an intensive rehabilitation programme. Smith has managed to turn his life around and is now the Editor of Inside Time.