#117 Twelve Years Innocent with Raphael Rowe

On today’s podcast we’re taking a step away from the usual conversation and you’re going to hear a story. A story about a young man called Raphael Rowe and his career that was born as a result of spending 12 years in a British prison for crimes he did not commit.

This story will be triggering for a lot of people. Despite a history of criminality, theft and violence, Raphael found himself a victim of institutional racism that led to his wrongful sentencing and incarceration.

This story has somewhat of a positive outcome, however, it pains me to think of how many people are in the same situation as him. With no means of escape.

You may recognise Raphael Rowe from his many TV programmes that he has filmed since his release including the highly popular Netflix series “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons”. Raphael visits high security prisons around the world, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Brazil, Ukraine to name a few. Inside he films with some of the world's most dangerous prisoners, guards, prisoners' families and politicians and talks to them about crime and punishment. 

Today I try and dive into the topic of why people commit crimes, the inequalities that may drive criminality, racism at the highest level and to shed light on how far we need to go to tackle injustice. My overarching feeling after reading Raphael’s book “Notorious” and listening to his own podcast “Second Chance” is one of sincere gratitude for the freedoms we take for granted everyday. I hope you feel the same after reading his tragic story, pandemic or no pandemic.

Raphael is an Advocate for Equality , Justice , Social Reform and Prison Reform. I hope you enjoy his story.

Check out The Doctor's Kitchen website for full show notes on this and all other episodes

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