John Henry Sayers has broken his silence after his release from prison to reveal how his years behind bars are helping him cope with lockdown.
It has now been just over a year since the notorious Newcastle hardman was released from jail after being convicted of perverting the course of justice in relation to the now infamous Tup Tup Palace nightclub shooting
The three-and-a-half year sentence was the last in string of jail terms which has seen Sayers spend 20 years of his life locked-up.
As the rest of Tyneside struggles with yet another week of the coronavirus lockdown, the 56-year-old dad has revealed how he coped with time away from his family, and has shared strategies he says helped him through his time in custody.
Sayers said: "I've been home just over a year now and look how fast that's gone, three to six weeks more is nothing.
"My probation rang me the other day asking how I was. I replied 'great'.
"I explained to her, after 20 years in prison, 15 convicted, five on remand as an innocent man and two years in total solitary, this is absolutely nothing.
"I come from the strongest collection of family and friends, in the best city of the greatest country in this world."
Over the years Sayers, along with brothers Stephen and Michael, has earned a reputation as part of the North East's most notorious underworld family.
In 1990 John Henry was jailed for 15 years for masterminding a violent £350,000 wages robbery at Pritchard’s security firm in Gateshead.
Following the raid Northumbria Police issued a statement saying they were now dealing with a 'new breed' of criminal on Tyneside.
Nearly all of Sayers' time behind bars has been in high security category A prisons.
And he served most of his last sentence at HMP Full Sutton, in Yorkshire, which was designed to house the country's most 'difficult and dangerous' inmates.
Sayers has also spent two years held in solitary confinement, where he learned to cope with being completely cut off from his family.
And here, in his own words, are some tips he says he has learned over his time behind bars:
-This will end
- No matter how hard you think it is, it is going to be or has been, it is nothing compared to you or your loved ones falling ill, especially if you blame yourself for causing it.
- There are still only 24 hours in a day no matter where you are or what you’re doing.
-Create a routine, so you feel as if you've achieved something positive in your day. Set time limits so you can look back at the hours you've just spent and see how fast it has gone.
-We have all just completed six weeks in lockdown, so we know already how it's going, think of how to improve on your next few hours, days, or weeks.
-Think what you can achieve with your remaining time on this planet, when you realise how easy it is to lose your life liberty.
- EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE. This can be physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
- Ask yourself: "Do you want to get through this, do you have a choice? Of course we do,YES. So in order to do this staying at home with loved ones, or alone, is a minuscule cost for your life and other lives.
- You as a person impact upon so many peoples lives, think about this for a second.
- Keep thinking positively, at end of day we are all here for a set time, it’s called 'life'. It's what we do with our lives before it ends that matters.
- Everything is relative, look at YOUR life, not a big issue seller's or a multi millionaire's, they cannot help you survive, only YOU can do that.
- Don't look at it as three weeks. Break it down into 21 days with 24 hours. Within that 24 hours, how much sleep? Allocate the remainder of the time for whatever you like doing.
-I like to set windows for meals, between 5pm and 7pm. Get the kids involved, choosing, prepping, cooking.
- Think what you would like to do when we can socialise again.
- Become a better person, dad, mam brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, friend, colleague.
- See how good you feel after you've helped do something positive and strive to continue to keep that feeling of positivity.
-Think of a small thing you'd like to achieve, break it down to barest and begin, try to achieve. Set small goals.
- Keep away from IT, enjoy your time with yourself, family, friends whilst locked down. Stop thinking how this episode in our worlds existence has impacted negatively on you, look at opportunities. In adversity there are opportunities. Look for them, strive for them.
- Do not let this situation make a victim out of you,
- Everyone of us can better ourselves!
-Realise that the best things mankind can offer us will beat this: Hope, love, duty, respect, fortitude and stubborn determination WILL get us through this.
Sayers was jailed for three-and-a-half years in September 2018 after an Old Bailey jury found him guilty of perverting the course of justice in relation to the 2015 drive-by shooting outside Newcastle’s Tup Tup Palace nightclub.
He was cleared of masterminding the attack, which left doorman Matthew McCauley seriously injured.
Prosecutors claimed Sayers sent associate Michael Dixon to shoot at the club as an act of revenge after his son, John Jnr, was thrown out and punched by door staff two weeks earlier.
But the jury found Sayers not guilty of conspiracy to murder, and conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Dixon, then 50, was cleared of conspiracy to murder but found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Sayers was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, along with convicted murderer Michael McDougall.
The court heard McDougall, who is serving a life sentence for killing South Shields takeaway boss Tipu Sultan, made a false confession to the Tup Tup shooting after meeting Sayers while he was on remand in HMP Wakefield.
Sayers was released from prison in April last year after serving his sentence, minus time spent on remand.
