Jonathan Bellamy heard Anthony Bostock's story.

Anthony Bostock

Anthony Bostock grew up in fear of his dad. This fear turned to anger and eventually to a life of violence and crime. However following a period of questioning the value and purpose of his life and a chance encounter with a Christian prisoner, he encountered Jesus and his life completely turned around. Jonathan Bellamy spent time with him, hearing his story.

Jonathan: Let's start at the beginning, what was your childhood like?

Anthony: It was ok. I was born on a council estate called Bentilee, in Stoke-On-Trent. I was raised there for about 25 years. I was born into a good family. My mum and dad worked and they provided, but there were difficulties in communication between me and dad especially, so I sided with mum, which caused division in the house. My dad was very strict and instilled a relationship of fear, so I spent most of my time at my grandads and just didn't want to be at home, because I feared my dad.

Jonathan: Was that his way of trying to control the home?

Anthony: I think so. He did his best and he provided and he worked very hard, but he was very strict. I think he was just following what he thought a father and a man was and what he was supposed to bring in to the family home.

Jonathan: Tell us about the impact back then, can you describe what the fear was like?

Anthony: Fear was a restriction on my life, so whilst other children were out and having fun, I didn't dare do the things that they were doing, because I feared the consequences it might have and the punishment I might receive for doing things that children just get up to, being mischievous. I had to go to bed really early and know that friends weren't going to bed early and that instilled fear and started to make me very angry.

Jonathan: Did you have friends, or were you isolated?

Anthony: I had friends. At the age of five, my mum and dad had another child and as I grew older, I started to take this all out on him, so the fear I was entrapped in, I vented it in anger and hatred towards my little brother and was very cruel towards him. I had friends, but I always looked at them as being dominant over me, because they were allowed to do things that I wasn't allowed to do.

Jonathan: It's interesting you highlight that connection between fear and anger. Some people hide away in fear and other people try to find other ways to express it, like anger.

Anthony: Yes definitely. The way I was coping with it, was to get angry. I began to break things, as children do, but now I'm a lot older, I recognise that that was coming out of this bondage of fear that was a part of my early years.

Jonathan: What was the relationship like with your mum in that? Did she recognise that in the home?

Anthony: My dad was very controlling, so my mum was my mum. She worked too. She worked on a pot bank and she worked very hard as well. My mum was fun, so I sided with my mum and if I wanted to get on my dad's good side, I went through my mum. My mum was the middle man, for want of a better phrase, to getting what I needed out of my dad, who was the ultimate provider for the house.

Jonathan: Tell us what happened from the age of 12?