A HARDENED criminal turned devout minister is the subject of a new book set to be launched by a successful author.

John Sealey, of Old Road, Clacton, is the author of several novels covering diverse topics from the Second World War to the corrupt world of cricket.

His first biography, If A Wicked Man, focuses on the exploits of John Lawson, a violent criminal who was made rich off the back of the sex industry, drugs, debt collecting, extortion, kidnapping and gang warfare.

In prison, he found God and when he was released, he became a minister.

Mr Sealey said: “I’m not a religious man but I met John at a stall in a market with bibles and that sort of thing.

“Something stopped me and made me get talking to him – the more we talked the more I realised what a remarkable story this man had.

“The way he talks and the honesty with which he talks is amazing, he doesn’t pretend about his past – he openly talks about all aspects of his violent life.”

Mr Lawson was a bouncer, a member of a biker gang and joined his gangster uncles in Soho running the biggest brothel in London.

He became a bodyguard and even worked, for a short time, with The Rolling Stones.

The biography will be launched at a special event at WH Smith, in Pier Avenue, Clacton, from 11am until 1pm on Thursday April 7.

There will be a chance to meet the author and his subject, Mr Lawson.