There is an old saying in prison that goes like this: "Once a con, always a con". It may have had its origin in the abbreviation for convict, however, I have always understood it to mean once a conman always a conman. And, in the case of Mark Leech, this is certainly true.
I first came across the name of Mark Leech, in 1988, in Wakefield Prison, when another prisoner showed me a handwritten copy of an article he had painstakingly copied verbatim from a copy of Fight Racialism, Fight Imperialism (FRFI). The article related to how to take the Prison Service to County Court over lost property, and the author claimed to be Mark Leech, LLB (Hons). I must admit I was impressed, that is, until I tried to put into practice his advice. Mark Leech had not taken into account that the position was somewhat different for a Category 'A' prisoner, therefore I encountered a security hurdle which I had to negotiate to gain access to court. As it transpired, the Home Office settled the claim in full on the court steps.
I was later to discover that not only does Mark Leech not have Honours (Hons), he doesn't even have a law degree (LLB)! And yet, he tries to tell us he is the best person to inform prisoners which qualified lawyers are competent to advise and represent prisoners in the area of prison law. And, how does he judge this? Quite simply, those lawyers foolish enough to pay him money for a "Mickey Mouse" law course, and paying him money to advertise in his publications, they are deemed to be competent in his eyes. However, this so-called "judge" has a vested interest which gives the appearance of bias. Any lawyer worth his or her salts would tell you that such a judge's decision would be overturned upon appeal.
I have never professed to have a law degree. Nevertheless, I am arguably the foremost expert on prison law in the country. I say "arguably", for the simple reason I have never gone head to head with Mark Leech to establish my supremacy outside of my own mind. Certainly, in terms of cases won my total more than trebles Mark Leech's claim to have won 30 cases. During 1992/3 I taught Elkan Abrahamson prison law when he was a junior partner at Edwards and Sims in Liverpool. I recall him saying, at the time, he would give it 6 months. Elkan went on to specialise in prison law, and opened up his own shop as senior partner in AS Law in Liverpool. In my view, this is still the number one firm for prison law in the country.
I would express my frustration to Elkan at the ignorance of criminal law barristers when it came to the subject of prison law. Then one day he said to me that he had come across this young, new barrister, called Flo Krause. I trusted his judgement, and said, "alright, I'll give her a try". We've been together ever since, like The Three Musketeers. It wasn't just a battle against the Home Office that we were engaged in, but also a campaign to educate QCs and judges about prison law. A big difference between Mark Leech and myself is that I have not sold out. He boasts of his wealth, whereas I admit to be claiming Jobseekers allowance. I rely upon the support of friends for charity. At the outset, I told Elkan I was not interested in the money, but only in prisoners rights and developing prison law. With me this remains the case today.
In the prison law war that has broken out, I see my role as a sniper who has got Mark Leech in his sights for character assassination. This is because Mark Leech has taken it upon himself to snipe at friends of mine and engage in character assassination. One such friend is a fellow lifer called Ben Gunn. I recall we would sit at a table in Rye Hill Prison, with two other lifers, and they would jokingly try to wind me up by proclaiming that I was as bad as Mark Leech. He was held in such low esteem that they knew this jibe would get to me even though they were not being serious. And, its the same with lawyers, and those involved in prison reform, when they compare Mark Leech and myself, I win the popularity stakes hands down.
But, does Mark Leech deserve this bad reputation?
The case against Mark Leech
To begin with, other than his little knowledge being a dangerous thing, I didn't hold any animosity towards Mark Leech. But, word soon spread around jails that the so-called prison reformer wasn't all he made himself out to be. For me, the final nail in the coffin came in 1995, when I watched the Channel 4 documentary featuring Mark Leech entitled "Out of the Frying-Pan", and during the programme it emerged that he was a police informer. In prison society, the "nonce" (child sex offender) is on the lowest rung, and a "grass" (police informant) is down there amongst the lowest of the low, on the second rung of the ladder. This is not a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, rather it is a case of him walking into my firing line.
"On the twenty sixth September [2002], Mark Leech, ex-prisoner and prison reform entrepreneur was interviewed by the media concerning the transfer of Jeffrey Archer from North Sea Camp open prison to inner city Lincoln jail. Asked about the sort of prisoner held at Lincoln, Leech described them as the 'Riffraff of the Prison system', which seemed rather incongruous a remark to make by someone who has built a fairly lucrative career as a self-proclaimed supporter and representative of prisoners". My card describes me as a prison law and media consultant. I would say that this attack upon prisoners by Mark leech is a PR disaster. It may be the case that the Legal Services Commission pays the prison lawyers fees, however, it is the prisoners who are the clients and they call the tune and not he who pays the piper. In my view, those lawyers associated with Mark Leech could very soon very well find themselves tarred by the same brush. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Yes, there is money to be made in prison law. But, these greedy buggers are fighting over crumbs from Mark Leech's table. When it was me who planted the seeds for the wheat to make the bread.
"His [Mark Leech] detractors (and he still has some in the prison service) are waiting for him to fail: to prove that he is a con-man who always gets found out".
Mark Leech states: "If you lie, you're on a slippery slope. If you tell the truth, the chances are you're going to remain unemployed, on the dole. I'm going to tell the truth". You said it, pal. I tell the truth and am on the dole. In spite of his last sentence, he didn't, and I don't think he will like the slide downwards. My Temple of Truth is built on the high moral ground, and I look down upon someone who is a proven liar and fraudster.
"He's a chancer," says a former inmate at Grendon. "He comes across as some great prison reformer, but he's a self-publicist. It's all about Mark Leech".
"He's egotistical, arrogant and self-obsessed," says a member of prison staff who dealt with Leech during his stay at Grendon. "He only likes you if you are prepared to take him at face value, but everything he does is a cunning disguise. Trying to pin him down is like trying to pin down a jelly. He got thrown out of Grendon because he made no progress there. If you ask me, he does the cause of penal reform no good at all".
According to another staff member at Grendon, "We did not have any success there with con-men - because they had conned themselves first and foremost. I agree with all the good things Mark Leech says about Grendon, except for the fact that it redeemed him".
A judge has opined about Mark Leech: "He is highly intelligent, but not altogether reliable".
When Mark Leech came up with the idea of editing The Prisoners Handbook, it was serving prisoners who wrote most of the entries which Mark Leech claims the credit for. And, those lawyers who wrote articles for him did not get paid. Nor did those who gave talks at his prison law courses. When I gave two talks for his prison law course, I ensured that I got paid upfront on each occasion, and the feedback on both occasions was that my talks were the best part of the course!
It is not just laziness on the part of Mark Leech, his prison newspaper in which he charges solicitors for adverts, is called ConVerse, a con job more like, in that he regularly copies and pastes whole articles from the BBC website and Guardian/Observer etc and gives no credit to the original authors nor credits the source from which he plagiarizes them. Example here and here.
The attack upon Ben Gunn and Inside Time newspaper can be read here. If Mark Leech's character was holier than thou, he could be forgiven. But when he is shown up to be what he really is, then he has no excuse for attacking others.
(A work still in progress)
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