My sister Karen has written her own book English Shaun about what it was like having a brother arrested and jailed in America’s toughest jails.
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| 1990 Early ravers |
The closest I have ever felt to my older brother, Shaun Attwood, was after he had been sentenced to six years in prison in America’s toughest jails.
This might sound odd – but prior to Shaun’s arrest, we had barely been in touch for years. At the height of Shaun’s drug madness in Arizona, I was literally living on the other side of the world in Japan. The 17-hour time difference and the fact that email was hardly used back then meant communication was difficult.
After Shaun’s sentencing – he was moved from the jail system to State prison which meant visits were eight whole hours long. There was nothing to do during these visits but sit and chat which meant we discussed everything under the sun – apart from his crimes. Shaun was devouring books for the first time in his life and he was keen to chat about literature, philosophy, the food he was craving on his near-starvation diet and all the places I had been to on my travels around the world. My main memories of this time is how much we laughed and laughed. We made sure we enjoyed every second of those precious visits.
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| 1992 With Matt, Shaun's stockbroker partner |
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| 2000, with Amy Shaun's ex wife |
My parents and I visited Shaun in Arizona exactly a year before his arrest – this was the first time the four of us had been together as a family in eight years. Although, we knew Shaun had been investing in raves, he made sure that we never met any of his ‘friends’ and he went out of his way to hide any traces of his criminal life while we were there. Although his behaviour was erratic and it was clear something was wrong – never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the extent of what he had been up to!
I’d moved back home from Japan and was living briefly with my parents when my Aunt Ann called to say Shaun had been arrested. Although the recent episode of Banged Up Abroad shows my parents taking the call – it was me with my mum that night. In a state of shock we started to tell jokes hysterically, until my dad came home. We felt sick, knowing we had to tell him about Shaun.
Full episode of Banged-Up Abroad Raving Arizona
I flew to the US twice to visit my brother while he was on remand. The second visit he had been moved to maximum security and I had to speak to him through a plastic pane on a phone. The all-powerful guards had little respect for family members and we were made to feel like criminals too. I remember the shame, and also the fear that they could take our visits away. At Shaun's sentencing hearing, I flew over again to speak in mitigation to ask the judge to be lenient – one of the hardest things I have had to do.
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| 2006, Tucson prison |
Throughout Shaun’s incarceration, the main worry for my parents and I was that he would commit suicide or that he would be killed by another inmate. It was always on our minds. Our mum had a nervous breakdown and our father started to have panic attacks. Shaun never told us the full extent of his crimes – he had made out for years that the police and prosecutor had exaggerated everything and as there was no trial, all the detail of his crimes was never told in court. So reading Party Time recently, was another massive shock. It was the first time Shaun had told the whole truth - although maybe there is a lot more that he left out?
I went with my parents to pick Shaun up from the airport when he was finally released.
He was gaunt and institutionalised. He couldn’t make decisions after having other people control his life for six years but it was one of the happiest days in my life. With our love and support, Shaun has been able to rebuild his life.
You can read more about our childhood and how my parents and I dealt with Shaun’s arrest and imprisonment in my book English Shaun. You don't need a kindle to read English Shaun. You can download a free app for your phone, iPad or laptop.