‘I went off the rails’: how Benjamin Zephaniah went from borstal to poet

Rastafarian wordsmith tells of abuse and life of crime as a child in new autobiography

Benjamin Zephaniah, the Rastafarian acclaimed as Britain’s “people’s laureate”, has revealed the abuse he suffered as a child, and the pressure he came under as a gang member to commit crimes – even to take part in an attack on a gay man. He has made no secret of serving time in borstal and prison, but now he is revealing details of his troubled early life in a forthcoming autobiography and tour.

Related: Benjamin Zephaniah: ‘I’m almost 60 and I’m still angry. Everyone told me I would mellow’

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