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- BANGED UP ABROAD: HELLHOLE -

prove I could make it on my own in the world, my greed and a get-rich-quick scheme took over my mind.

I decided I would invest the money in something for the future, like a nice little garage, where I’d repair cars – my family had always been into cars – to set me up in life. Paul wanted to set up a car valet business and five grand would get him going, too.

He and I looked at each other, then nodded. We were in.

‘This Russian bloke, how do we find him, then?’ I said to Luke.

‘That’s him over there,’ he said, pointing to a man in a flash suit who looked different from everybody else. He was an older guy, and was standing there all relaxed, with a look that said, ‘I’m rich – don’t fuck with me.’ He looked foreign, a bit like Borat, with a moustache and dark hair swept to the side. He was a big guy, and he looked very powerful, and not just physically – he had an aura of power. He wasn’t dancing around like everybody else; he had a cool, calm air to him. But there was also menace there. He looked like he had connections to the kind of people who get things done – no matter what it took. It was all pretty intimidating to two young lads. But I’ve always been a risk-taker, and not for a moment did I feel worried for my own safety.

Looking back, it’s obvious that Luke was his gofer, the bloke who would handpick people from the club and then introduce them to him.