Jerry: Society's black sheep – Based on true events

1st Chapter Snippet
 
 
Chapter 1
 
 
DARREN absorbed the calm persona of the young person waiting in the reception. It was hard to believe that this 17 year old, who seemed so laid back, quiet even, was the infamous Jerry Fishton. The guy who police labelled as a prolific, violent criminal. A dangerous delinquent. A gang leader.
 
Though on record it would be hard to prove these accusations. He barely had
a criminal record before this, save for a few minor charges of possession of class B. Whatever gods he’d been praying to so far had been keeping to their side of the agreement. Well, until recently anyway. As not even they could save him from a lengthy jail term. For shooting a loaded handgun in public as he’d aimed for two other young males acting incredibly reckless.
Luckily no one had been seriously injured and was the only reason he was given five instead of the intended ten years. But after serving just under 4 years on good behaviour he had been released from Feltham.
Before getting him from reception Darren remembered how adamant his manager, Tracey, had been in regards to his safety.
“Make sure you wear your wrist alarm when you’re in that room with him,”
she’d said peering into to see the notorious youth.
“Wrist alarm!?” His colleague Paul had added. “What’s that gonna do! He needs a bullet proof vest and a copy of his will. In fact write me into the will, Darren. I could do with the extra cash!”
Darren had to laugh; Paul always managed to make light of serious situations, and for once he wasn’t too far off the mark. Danger surrounded Jerry. There had already been previous attempts made on Jerry’s life. Two of them just before he was locked away.
The first attempt had been made one early morning as Jerry was taking out the trash. He was greeted with a hail of bullets but somehow managed to duck into his home with no injuries. The second attempt was when a girl he’d met through Instagram talked him into meeting her at a park one night. He ended up having to run for his life as guys with black masks and long machetes chased him down. Luckily for him he was able to out run them and avoid an almost certain early death.
To say Jerry’s life hung in the balance was a grand understatement. While in custody, a MAPPA meeting (Multi Agency Public Protection
Arrangements) decided to move him away from the streets of South West
London into the quieter area of Havering.
Though he wasn’t happy with the decision, he didn’t fight it too much. He knew how dangerous his current situation was.
Things had gotten so bad that even his grandmother had had to be moved temporarily from the area. Gunmen had even broken into her place looking for him. But she had more heart than they’d imagined. Not only did she slap away the loaded guns pointed at her, she also told them in a harsh patois,
“Unna need fe get outta me house now!”
 
Everything about this case was so intense Darren felt like he could do with a laugh.. Every meeting. Every supervision session. Everything was a constant bombardment of the risks posed to Jerry and the risks he posed to the public. That’s why when he was released from Feltham it was on a 25 hour Intensive Supervision Surveillance order (ISS) and placed on a Level 1 MAPPA. Which was reserved for only the most violent of offenders and those who posed a high risk to the general population.
The MAPPA meetings only added to the headaches as representatives from
the police, social services, probation, and the youth offending service, clashed over the best course of action for him.
Many times Tracey, who for the most part Darren found to be good hearted but extremely observant and intelligent, would come back from the meetings in a dark mood. Her usual smiles replaced by a long frown and her office door that was usually always open was closed.
When she would finally open up she’d detail how she felt as if her hands were tied with the Jerry case. That their input was not being regarded in the meetings and that they were only really there to follow orders....