This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
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Reformed East End mob boss Stephen Gillen inspired the character of Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney) in Gangs of London. The author and TV personality now works to stop people from becoming criminals.
A Tough Start
I was born in 1971 in London, then taken to Belfast during the Troubles when I was six months old. My aunt, my surrogate mother, died of cancer when I was nine. I was fostered back in London at 11 and was in a series of brutal children’s homes.
I carried a lot of anger. I was groomed for petty crime and got into serious organised crime, including racketeering and armed robbery. I was looking to belong.
Behind Bars
At 14 I went to a detention centre; I was in and out for gang-related activity and grievous bodily harm. In 1991, I was sentenced to 17 years in jail, serving 12 in various prisons, including five in solitary confinement. I was in with Charles Bronson and Francesco Di Carlo from the Sicilian Mafia.
When I came out of prison in 2003, it took me years to integrate into society. I volunteered with homeless people and started doing manual labour. Then I studied at the London School of Business and Finance and passed with honours. I started building businesses, but I realised the most valuable thing was my story, so I started public speaking. I played by the rules and I left the darkness behind.
Life Experience
I consult on TV series, including Gangs of London, and they’re interested in how these gangs would actually operate, what they would and wouldn’t do, the codes, how they speak. Occasionally series get it wrong and that detracts from the authenticity. Sometimes it becomes too much about the blood and gratuitous violence.
The Inner Circle
I have access to people who, for obvious reasons, don’t want to talk. They trust me and know I’m not going to cause any problems, so that helps people to open up. The life is evil — but not all the people in it are evil.
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Laura Rutkowski is the Junior Commissioning Editor at Radio Times magazine, where she looks after a column called "What it's like to…", which spotlights behind-the-scenes roles within the TV and film industry – from stunt coordinators to costume designers. She loves finding out how productions are made and enjoys covering a wide variety of genres. Laura is half-American and half-British and joined Radio Times in 2022. She has a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Magazine Journalism.
