Simon's weird. I thought I was a good guy. I didn't do drugs. I didn't beat my wife. I wasn't a drunk. I was providing. These guys were all criminals. They deserve whatever they got.

I love my kids. I'd read them a bedtime story and then go and put on a balaclava and get a stun gun or a shotgun and go and hold men hostage. That's the kind of good man that I was, you know.

Welcome, everybody. This is Simon Gilbo with Inspired. Great to be back with you for another

fantastic episode. If you're new to inspired, it's all about having been bombarded with so much

sort of fear and grimness in the press relentlessly is to meet people who've had amazing journeys,

encouraging journeys from all walks of life that are going to stir our passion, our faith,

as we work out our lives and journey with Jesus.

So this week I'm super excited to have with us, John Lawson.

Welcome, John.

Oh, thank you, Simon.

Yeah, so John,

we haven't actually met. Most people I get on are friends. So hopefully I can call your friend

by the end of this, but basically I heard your story recently, and I was so moved by it. And also,

as we'll come to it, there's a time element in this that I all the more wanted

to strike. And thank you for replying straight away. So let's just get into it. Tell us about your

early childhood. What would that look like? I'm actually Scottish. Born in Glasgow, but again,

I have a very English accent these days. Born in Glasgow in 66 in a place called Mary Hill,

which is a lot of poverty around Mary Hill.

My father was in the Merchant Navy,

and on one of his sailing expeditions,

he docked in South Africa, in Durban.

And there was a time, that was a time when they were offering

...