A FORMER millionaire turned drugs importer has visited a Bradford school to speak with pupils about the consequences of a life of crime.

Shaun Attwood, a former stock-market millionaire who served time in the jail with the highest death rate in America, visited Bradford Grammar School on Friday to tell pupils his true story about prison and drugs.

Raised in a small industrial town in the northwest, Shaun, 48, moved to the US state of Arizona in 1991, where he worked his way up to become a top producing stockbroker and a tech-stock millionaire during the dot.com bubble.

But he also led a double life. Having been a raver in Manchester in the late 80’s, Mr Atwood took his love of dance music to the US, throwing raves and importing the Class A drug Ecstasy.

Then his actions caught up with him - in May 2002, a SWAT team smashed his door down. On remand for 26 months, he started the first prison blog, Jon’s Jail Journal, which turned the international media spotlight on the conditions – gang members and guards murdering inmates, dead rats in the food and cockroaches crawling in his ears at night.

Mr Atwood was sentenced to 9 and a half years for running an Ecstasy ring. He served almost 6 years in jail, first Maricopa County Jail and then the Arizona Department of Corrections.

He has been touring and speaking at three schools in the UK a week and says his story strikes a chord with many children, and helps show them the consequences of a life that is often portrayed as glamorous.

Mr Atwood relayed the same experiences to young Bradford Grammar School pupils in order to open their eyes to the harrowing consequences of getting involved in drugs and crime.

When asked what he thought about the talk, BGS pupil Callum Haynes, age 17 and from Bradford, said:

“Shaun’s story was really interesting and shocking. I never knew anything like that could happen. How Shaun managed to cope was amazing. It really inspired all of us at BGS and I think it will be a story we will share a lot.”

As a speaker, author, educator and activist based in London, Mr Atwood said he was extremely pleased with his visit to BGS, adding: “All the pupils were very gripped and there was no end of questions during the session. I hope, and I’m sure, the lessons are absorbed - which is what it’s all about.

“After seeing the horror of what drugs leads to in prison, I know I couldn’t change my past so to me it’s vitally important to go out and share my story. Particularly with young people where it’s imperative they understand such consequences.”

Mr Atwood’s story was broadcast on TV worldwide by National Geographic as an episode of Banged-Up Abroad. He is the author of five true-crime books with 100,000 copies sold. In ‘Hard Time’, he details how he survived Arizona’s deadliest jail.

He has been banned from America for life.

His writing, smuggled out of the jail with the highest rate of death in America, turned the international media spotlight on the horrific conditions including murders by guards and gang members and the constant threat of violence. His latest book is ‘Pablo Escobar: Beyond Narcos’.