A former criminal who was jailed for his part in a £1m drug conspiracy has won an award for his work helping hundreds of ex-offenders find long term jobs.
John Burton, from Vauxhall, was sentenced to nine and a half years in 2012 after masterminding a £1m conspiracy which supplied cannabis, cocaine and amphetamine to street dealers in South Wales and the West Midlands.
He later had an extra 30 months added to his jail sentence after police unravelled an elaborate web of money laundering. The Liverpool dad was once known as ' Juicebomb John' within the underworld due to his muscular appearance.
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John's experience inside the prison system convinced him that the conditions contributed to a pattern of re-offending. John realised that his own family were suffering while he was serving his sentence and decided on rejecting criminality.
Toward the end of his time in the system he became an advocate for prison reform . He spent hours in the prison library reading and discussed his ideas with prison governors.
On his release from prison in 2017 John founded Inside Connections, a non-for-profit company aimed at providing released prisoners with accommodation and work. The company has since found jobs for 520 former prisoners.
Yesterday (Tuesday) John won the Robin Corbett Award during a ceremony at the House of Commons. Robin Corbett was chair of the all party penal affairs group for 10 years until his death in 2012.
John, 51, said to the ECHO: "We are absolutely delighted to have won the 2022 Robin Corbett Award. To win a prestigious award like this is unbelievable and I’d like to thank Lady Val, the Judges, our team, all the employers we work with and the prisons.
"It was difficult with my background to get the funding to start Inside Connections but we managed it and I am proud of the work we have done – and will do in the future.”
The panel of judges included the Director of the Prison Reform Trust, a retired High Court Judge and the President of the Prison Governors Association.
Lady Val Corbett, who founded the award, said: “It is a true life story that, with his background, John has turned his life around to help others, knowing the problems released prisoners have reiterating back into society. In this year alone, 182 people on their programme have achieved industry qualifications, with a 98% success rate. And 145 people have got permanent jobs.
“Inside Connections, formed in 2017, empowers individuals to change their lives just as John did and they are a worthy winner on many levels.”
Inside Connections works mainly with individuals who have completed or are about to complete a prison sentence. The company engages with employers from construction, energy and technology sectors to facilitate placements, training and careers for ex-offenders. Inside Connections also spends time with young offenders to help them stay out of trouble.
The Robin Corbett Award for Prisoner Re-Integration was established in 2013 by members of Lord Corbett’s family in conjunction with the Prison Reform Trust. It is now administered by The Corbett Foundation, a not-for-profit social enterprise.
To find out more about Inside Connections email john@insideconnections-cic.co.uk or go here.
