Since the beginning of this year I have been mentoring Saeed, a young Iraqi refugee in Portland Prison. I met Saeed through Key4Life, a charity that supports and empowers vulnerable young men in prison to secure employment and reintegrate back into society.

Saeed’s life story has been unimaginably traumatic. As a small child he witnessed his father’s murder in war torn Iraq. His mother fled to Tangiers but died several years later leaving Saeed orphaned and alone aged 7. After a few desperate years sleeping rough in Tangiers port, Saeed made his dangerous escape under a lorry to mainland Europe in search of a better life.

Aged 10, Saeed was eventually picked up by police at a service station in Hampshire having crawled out from under another lorry. He did not find security, support and nurture when he reached this country. He was let down by Social Services having been placed with a family in Bristol that neglected and emotionally abused him whilst benefitting from fostering payments. He felt as if nobody cared and he quite naturally felt powerless and angry. Unsupported he dropped out of education and ended up back on the streets in Bristol.

Saeed eventually found stability with his young partner Anisah and her family, but following a conflict where his father in law was being threatened he resorted to violence and was convicted. He spent a year and a half in Portland Prison and was served with a deportation order to Iraq.

This is a young man who spent most of his childhood afraid and entirely uncared for and whose early life was predicated on a survival fight or flight response. It is no surprise that he would find conflict situations hard to manage, especially when it involved a threat to his new family, as was the case with his crime.

Saeed has served his sentence, during which time his prison record was exemplary. In prison he engaged in a rehabilitation course to support young offenders in managing their emotions in order to avoid conflict. He feels he greatly benefitted from the course and was able to use the emotional resilience techniques he learnt to cope with everyday stresses in prison.

Aside from this transgression, Saeed, now 20, has shown that he is a capable and responsible young man. He has been cohabiting with his partner for the last five years. He sees his partner’s family as his own and has been very involved in the care of her young siblings. He was appointed joint kinship carer to the children by Bristol Children’s Services at a time of family difficulty. Prior to his sentence he had been in full time employment and wants to resume working life to support his family.

It is my strong belief that Saeed is one of, perhaps a minority, that has used the experience of prison to reflect, mature and let go of unhelpful behaviours in order to focus on what he wants to create in his life. I believe Saeed is a young man with great potential. He is a very bright, friendly, self-motivated individual. He loves marine biology and has read copiously on the subject. His other great interest is engineering and he wants to train to find a job in this field.

On 30th August Saeed faces his tribunal to appeal his deportation. On that day it will be decided whether he can remain here in the UK with his only family or be sent back to Iraq where he knows no one, no longer speaks Arabic and will be a prime target for radicalisation.

Saeed does not have the means to pay for his legal representation without which he will undoubtedly be deported. I am reaching out to friends, family and fellow mentors to help raise £3,700 for his legal fees.

If any young man deserves a second chance it is him. Please help if you can.