Johnson Beharry was a member of a London gang, and was once stopped by police while carrying a gun and drugs in his car – but his life has now completely changed
He is celebrated as the bravest of heroes, a soldier who won the Victoria Cross after putting his life on the line to save dozens of his comrades in Iraq.
Yet five years before he was awarded the military’s highest honour by Queen Elizabeth II, Johnson Beharry’s life was completely different. A member of a London gang, he was once stopped by police while carrying an Uzi semi-automatic gun and drugs in the back of his car.
The 44-year-old credits the Army with saving his life and giving him a way out of the gangland hell like that depicted in gritty Netflix show Top Boy â and he is now working hard to help steer others away from that world. Johnson says: “Programmes like Top Boy bring me back to the journey I have been on and the things I’m doing to turn young people’s life from gang culture onto the straight and narrow.
“I guess for a while I was like one of those young people. I am living proof that you can turn your life around from being in a gang and be a success. If I hadn’t got out of that world, I would have probably been killed, sent to prison or deported. Despite the injuries I suffered while serving, I’m lucky someone took a chance on me in the military. The military saved my life. I would like to use my platform to help others.”