TONY ARGENT was a criminal who learnt from his time in jail that he could have taken another path in his life, and that is why now he wants to warn youngsters to never go down the road of crime and violence.
This is the story of Tony Argent.
Who is Tony Argent?
Tony Argent was a violent man who was recognised by older criminals when he was at a very young age.
He was used to terrorise and intimidate rivals.
He started engaging in criminal activity aged 10 when he was trying to mug people for money so he could get food.
Aged 14 he took it to another level with gangs and started burglarising launderettes and clubhouses.
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His worst crime was murdering Paul Edmonds outside a pub in Plaistow.
He was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey in July 1999 and was sentenced to a life sentence, with a minimum of at least 20 years.
No reason behind the killing was ever revealed, but the two knew each other from their criminal records and had a fallout at the time of the crime.
His lawyers tried to tell the court that Argent was suffering from mental illness at the time of the shooting, which he was too embarrassed to talk about.
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When doing an interview, Argent said: "I will say that at the time of the murder I was in a very dark place; I was disillusioned with life, I was challenging some of the so-called ‘gangsters’ and finding that their reputations were just b******t.
"To cut a long story short, I was convicted of murder and the judge gave me a 20-year rec.
"Later, the then Home Secretary Jack Straw increased it to 22 years.
"I was now at the stage where if someone had a go, I could not respond verbally – I just went straight on the attack. I was a very angry man."
How long did Tony Argent spend in prison?
Tony Argent ended up spending 28 years in prison.
He tells people that are still in prison: "Educate yourselves, study, and always believe in yourself.
"Change is possible – even when you are at your lowest.
"Part of being a man is being an honest man."
This is what he had learnt from his time in Grendon, where he said that the staff was great at teaching them about therapy and the tolerance they had.
Where is Tony Argent from?
Tony Argent is from East London.
He grew up in Custom House, Silverstown.
Argent grew up in poverty and his family was in debt most of the time.
His childhood is haunted by violent times, however, he says that his family always made sure to give him a good Christmas.
What has Tony Argent said?
Tony Argent is now speaking out about his criminal past as awareness for young people.
He spoke about what it was like for him to be getting in trouble with the police regularly.
He said: "It was a cruel world with a serious bullying culture.
"I got beaten by the screws, which led me to hate authority.
"They were grown men who spent their careers bullying and beating kids.
"I don’t know how that was supposed to make us better people, all they did was perpetuate our violent lifestyles."
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Argent now has a Youtube channel called Bullet Production on which he talks about his life and experiences that people might have never been through.
He tries to warn those younger to stay off crime and "stop them wasting their lives."
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