Norman Parker (1944–2019) was a British author and convicted murderer. He attended St Clement Danes Grammar School in West London. After serving a six-year sentence for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, he was convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

in 1970Coping Strategies and Enduring Psychological Trauma in Some "Miscarriage of Justice" Victims - MSc. thesis by Norman Parker
/ref> and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. He served 24 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

s including Parkhurst. His involvement in riots,

hunger strikes A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are named d ...

and escapes saw him moved from prison to prison, often spending long periods in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

. In the later years of his sentence, Parker gained an honours degree from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and began writing about his prison experiences. On release, his first book ''Parkhurst Tales'', was published, a memoir of his time in Parkhurst and other prisons, and his fellow convicts including the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arres ...

and "Mad"

Frankie Fraser Francis Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.

. He has since written several more books including, "Life After Life" published in 2006 and has made regular appearances in the media, commenting on

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

issues. He appeared in the Sky TV Documentary 'Mad Frank' Directed by Liam Galvin. In 2003 Parker gained a master's degree in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

from the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

External links

Norman Parker Blog

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Norman 1944 births Alumni of the University of Surrey English male journalists English people convicted of manslaughter English people convicted of murder English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Living people People convicted of murder by England and Wales People paroled from life sentence Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales