Childhood was spent in what 'experts' would call a socially and economically deprived neighbourhood in South London. A German mother and an absent and useless father (who left before I was born) added a certain 'value' to my early years. Shop-lifting at age 5 (Woolworths {RIP} and Tescos the main victims). I left school at 13 and my teenage years were spent with South and East London gamblers and villians. In my early 20s I decided that enough was enough. Started studying, which resulted in a Ph.D. and a life in academia. I teach human rights in one of the world's leading human rights centres, travel the world through work. I seem to have become a respectable member of society, after all! I have a fandabbydozzy daughter, Claudia and a hunky dory partner, Julia. We have two cats: Woody (a Norwegian Forest Cat) and Tiger (a moggy with airs and graces!)