Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Breaking In

Down Under, they do things differently:

A former prisoner in Australia has decided to buy his own jail cell.

Graeme Alford spent several years in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne, for embezzlement and robbery.

But he is not planning to actually live in the cell again. It is being turned into a wine storage facility as part of the prison's commercial redevelopment.

Mr Alford, a former barrister, said the purchase was "purely an investment" as he swore to stop drinking after his release in 1980.

....Mr Alford ended up in jail when addictions to gambling and alcohol led him to become heavily in debt.

He started stealing from trust funds and used a sawn-off shotgun in a failed bank robbery.
But after leaving prison, Mr Alford turned his life around.

He stopped drinking and gambling and became a motivational speaker, writing the top-selling book Never Give Up about his experiences.

When he saw the heritage-listed building was being redeveloped, he thought the opportunity was too good to miss.

"I thought that not too many people have bought their own jail cell back," he told local media.

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