An interesting and thought-provoking step into a world most of us won’t have an understanding of. Michael Emmett grew up with a career criminal for a father and joined the family business of organised crime. With links to the Kray Twins, drugs, sex, and violence he lived the high life before being sentenced to 12 years in prison after a huge drugs smuggling conviction. In prison he joined an Alpha Prayer Group, and after leaving began to turn his life around, he is now committed to helping prisoners and ex-offenders. Together with journalist Harriet Compston, he has written the story of his life of crime and consequently finding Christian faith. I think that it is important to try to reach for an understanding of the difficulties faced by children and young adults when immersed in crime from the moment they are born. This is a story that is simply told with verve and colour, though the violence and criminality sits uneasily alongside the glitz and glamour. The author uses the word ‘naughty’ to describe his criminality on several occasions, as though he is talking to the child that was. Sins of Fathers is a fascinating, eye-opening and convincing memoir from a man who is still dealing with his past.
Like many little boys, Michael Emmett idolised his father. Growing up, he knew he wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps and join the family business. At just 16 years old, Michael did just that - and entered the glamourous, dangerous world of organised crime. Under the tutelage of his career criminal father - a contemporary of the infamous Kray twins - Michael's criminal activities funded a reckless lifestyle marked by drugs, sex and violence. But the high couldn't last forever. In 1993, Michael and his father were arrested in a dramatic confrontation with the police during a GBP13 million smuggling operation. Michael was sentenced to twelve years behind bars and would serve his time in the same prison as his father. But behind the walls of HMP Exeter, Michael found something he never expected - answers. After joining an Alpha prayer group in prison, he had an experience that would shake the very foundations of his life. Sins of Fathers is the story of Michael's journey through chaos and trauma to the transformation he experienced in prison. It asks what it takes for a broken man to find redemption, and how he can learn to be the father he never had.
Michael Emmett's trajectory in life seemed simple. Born to a career criminal with links to the infamous Kray twins, it seemed inevitable that Michael would follow in his father's footsteps and join the family business as an international drug smuggler. At just sixteen years old, Michael started working for his father and entered the glamourous, dangerous world of organised crime. By the time Michael was in his twenties, he was living a life defined by drugs, sex and violence. Michael embraced his raucous lifestyle with open arms - even through multiple convictions and the toll his behaviour was taking on his mental health. From partying with his Page Three model girlfriend to smuggling drugs with some of the biggest names in the criminal world, it seemed the high never needed to end. After a dramatic confrontation with the police in 1993, Michael served 12 years in prison for his part in the biggest cannabis smuggling operation in UK history. Since then, Michael has been released from prison and worked hard to reconcile his past with his hopes for the future. He is committed to helping prisoners and ex-offenders to find their own paths to peace. Michael has turned his life around thanks to the strength his faith has given him. Now he wants to share his story. The daughter of a judge and an art curator, Harriet is a journalist who has completed five editorships. She was one of the youngest editors ever of a national glossy magazine and has interviewed the likes of David Bailey, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Melinda Gates, Charles Saatchi and Janine di Giovanni. Her first book, Glorious Hotels of India, was published in September 2019. Harriet has undertaken commissions in some of the world's most untapped destinations, exploring a wide range of cultures and remote communities including Mongolia, El Salvador and Senegal. Working in prisons in India and with people in recovery alongside the sudden loss of her older brother, has given Harriet a real understanding of life's struggles and the frailty of human nature.
