A Bristol man is using his turbulent past to prevent others from turning to a life of crime, gaining a huge TikTok following for his honesty about the dangers of substance abuse and breaking the law. Paul Simmons spent half his life behind bars off and on as he battled addiction, but is now using his story to stop others following the same path.
The 44-year-old was brought up in Lockleaze with his mum and stepfather and says during the early years of his life, he was exposed to domestic abuse before being taken from his family home at age nine and placed into a residential boarding school. It was there he said he fell victim to abuse himself until he eventually left at 16 with his GSCEs.
The Bristol-born father of two, who now lives in Swindon, said he was “unwilling” to return to his family home after coming out of the social care setting and voluntarily made himself homeless in Bristol. He found himself living close to the city centre where he would squat inside a St Pauls flat, and begging for cash in the infamous Bearpit.
