Essex Boys, The New Generation (34 page)

When asked why such a draconian ban was being imposed, Percival was given what can only be described as a pitiful excuse: ‘It’s because you are collaborating on a book with O’Mahoney,’ they told him. I say it is a pitiful excuse because the prison services, who have monitored all our calls and letters, and received an undertaking from me, know that Percival has not collaborated with me in the writing of this book. Even if he had, it is not illegal or forbidden for prisoners to assist authors with books of this nature.

Having read this book, you will know that the victims’ families have not only assisted me but Beverley Boshell has also benefited from the proceeds of it after I agreed to pay for Dean’s memorial.

There is nothing in this book that glamorises crime. The only quotes from Percival in this book relate to the evidence against him and so it cannot be said that he is using this book to justify his conduct or denigrate people that he dislikes. Less than ten years ago, the House of Lords ruled that a ban on prisoners talking to journalists was unlawful. Bans on prisoners receiving visits from journalists unless undertakings were given were also ruled unlawful. Freedom of speech, we were told, was ‘the lifeblood of democracy’. Maybe so, but the laws of this land do not appear to apply to prisoner NE5377 Mr Ricky Percival. Democracy where Percival is concerned appears to have been bled dry.

We should all hang our heads in shame after seeing what the system has done and continues to do to this young man. The victims of crime and their loved ones undoubtedly deserve justice. The perpetrators of crime undoubtedly deserve their punishment. But no human being deserves to spend 28 years in prison deprived of hope and assistance from the outside world after being denied a fair trial.

The truth will always out, they say. I just hope for Mrs Boshell, the Percival family and in particular Ricky Percival that they are right and the truth does emerge sooner rather than later.

  AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY  

Bernard O’Mahoney is a former key
member of the Essex Boys Firm. He was the head doorman at Raquels nightclub in Basildon – the setting for many of the gang’s lucrative enterprises and bloody encounters. Following the death of 18-year-old Leah Betts, who died after taking an Ecstasy pill that was supplied by his associates, O’Mahoney decided to leave the firm. His decision to quit was met with death threats from his former friends Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe. Two weeks later, all three were found shot dead in their Range Rover.

Having laid down his weapons and picked up the pen, O’Mahoney went on to write the bestselling
Essex Boys.
He is also the author of
Wannabe in my Gang?, Soldier of the Queen, The Dream Solution, Bonded by Blood
and
Hateland,
in which he describes his abusive and violent childhood through to his dark days as a football hooligan, right-wing thug and South African prisoner.

He has three children – Adrian, Vinney and Karis – and currently lives alone in Harborne, Birmingham.