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<\/p>\nGROWING up in a deprived part of London, Marcus Luther saw teen pals and even his own brother get stabbed and shot – but he turned his back on a life of crime.<\/p>\n
Now the former Gogglebox star, who runs a boxing gym to help kids stay on the straight and narrow, is experiencing life behind bars for the first time in new reality show Banged Up.<\/p>\n
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The Channel 4 series, which airs from Tuesday, sees seven celebrities – including former EastEnder Sid Owen and Friday Night Dinner star Tom Rosenthal – caged in decommissioned Victorian jail HMP Shrewsbury with a host of ex-cons.<\/p>\n
Hidden cameras capture the terrified stars as they share cells with reformed murderers, gangsters and drug smugglers in a crowded wing where the constant threat of violence hangs in the air.<\/p>\n
Marcus, 40, grew up in Thornton Heath in the knife-ridden borough of Croydon, south London, and says he signed up for the week-long stint inside to understand what drives young people to crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm born and raised in a rough part of Croydon, a high knife crime area, and I've got a gym nearby in Mitchem,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never got in trouble with the police but I am from an area where everybody does and even family members do.\u00a0All my friends have been stabbed, shot or whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had a choice to get in the car and go do the robbery, but I chose not to.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy original thoughts were, \u2018If you do some crime, go to prison and don't start moaning about it. Your choices were no different than mine'.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed to go in there to see why young people keep re-offending, especially in the black community.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Marcus – who shares his Gogglebox sofa with partner Mica Ven – was the youngest of six growing up on a poverty-stricken estate.<\/p>\n But unlike many of his childhood friends he had a stable family.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a dad that played a big part in my life really helped because, when I see the difference between me and other young men that I know have chosen other paths, a lot of the time there's no dad around,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cDad owned a building firm and mum used to work as a cleaner. She'd go out first thing in the morning and when we got up breakfast would be made. It was a lot of work for her.<\/p>\n \u201cI had sisters and they were very strict on me. Everyone was very strict on me.<\/p>\n \u201cThat helped me as well but it was still a choice I made. My brother was in a gang and he has been stabbed and shot at. It happens. Even I was in a gang for a week, but I realised it wasn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n My brother was in a gang and he has been stabbed and shot at. It happens. Even I was in a gang for a week, but I realised it wasn\u2019t for me<\/p>\n \u201cI knew that I didn't want to go to prison and let people down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead Marcus channelled his energy into working and says ambition kept him from straying.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very motivated by business. I loved business and thought, \u2018I cannot do the time, so I would never be the one to do the crime'," he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody I knew that was rich owned a scaffolding firm, a waste removal company or they had degrees, so I thought, that's how I can make money and I'm not going to have police breathing down my neck.<\/p>\n \u201cI started working when I was 14 and I've never stopped since.\u201d<\/p>\n Now dad to two sons, Shiloh, 24, and Yashua, 14, as well as stepdad to Mica\u2019s daughters Sachelle, 25, and Shuggy, 20, Marcus is passionate about giving kids the best start in life.<\/p>\n He uses his boxing gym to help nurture deprived youngsters.<\/p>\n \u201cI say I've got a hundred kids now because they are all my kids. They all phone me when they want help,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cI encourage them a lot and they know as much as I love them, I will also be strict. I'm like, \u2018I will give you a cuddle but I'll also tell you off\u2019. I'll do a bit of both.\u201d<\/p>\n The star – who quit Gogglebox in December after five years – has proved a great role model to his own sons, who are both champion boxers.<\/p>\n I bawled my eyes out\u00a0 because that's the first fight I've missed<\/p>\n His eldest Shiloh Defreitas – who competes under the name Sugar Shy –\u00a0was underage European Champion at 14 and won the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2017.<\/p>\n Youngest Yash is also a promising fighter, and Marcus says his hardest moment inside HMP Shrewsbury was missing an important bout.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I was in prison for the show my youngest had his first fight for England, boxing in the Three Nations –\u00a0between England, Scotland and Wales – and he won gold,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI bawled my eyes out because that's the first fight I've missed and we've been training for a few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI managed to get a phone in there, which somebody gave me, so I spoke to him and he said, \u2018Dad I wish you were there. You should be enjoying this with me\u2019. It made it so much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite knowing former jailbirds himself, nothing prepared Marcus for the terrifying week in the cells.\u00a0<\/p>\n As soon as he enters Marcus is surrounded by a group of violent lags who demand he \u201cG-check\u201d another inmate – meaning checking out his convictions and credentials.<\/p>\n After refusing he\u2019s cornered in a cell by the menacing group until he's rescued by a prison officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI went in there thinking, I've done all my research about prison, I watched Shawshank Redemption and I knew you have to stand up for yourself, make sure you've got some balls and let nobody walk all over you,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThen, before you know it, they turn you into their bitch.<\/p>\n \u201cI consider myself a tough guy but I only fight in the ring, boxing.\u00a0 But having to be something you're not was hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI'm trying to play the tough guy but it was scary. When I came back out my wife said every time she was speaking to me, I was looking over my shoulder, and that isn't a good thing. <\/p>\n \u201cYou shouldn't have to be somebody that you're not just to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcus now believes he was \u201ca bit pompous and arrogant\u201d about the reasons people end up in jail and says his brief stint behind bars has been an eye-opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI went in there thinking everyone should just do the right thing, but once I was speaking to actual people in that position, I got an insight into how the prison system works.<\/p>\n \u201cThere's a thing called recall, which means I could have had a short sentence for something when I was younger, and that is hanging over me for the rest of my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo if I'm in a car with someone who has marijuana and the police pull me over, I could be called back to prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversely, Marcus believes short sentences for minor crimes have worse long term outcomes than long sentences – and says inmates should get paid a minimum wage for the jobs they do inside to help their prospects on release.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you give somebody a small sentence, they will go out and re-offend, go back to jail and then do it all again. They'll end up doing 30 years in short stints,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you give them a 10-year stretch they end up doing less time behind the door. Prisoners have told me that themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlso they had me putting flatpack screws together for about \u00a31.50 a day, but wealthy businesses profit from that.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/KH_22_10_SID_OWEN_COMP.jpg\")
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Most read in The Sun<\/h2>\n
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9<\/span>![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mica-ven-marcus-luther-gogglebox-679820538-2.jpg\")
9<\/span>Gang life<\/h2>\n
Tears over son's bout<\/h2>\n
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