Erwin James: The Man Not The Murderer

In the past week I read two books by Guardian columnist cum prison diarist Erwin James. Through the books I saw the change in James as he matured and prepared for his life outside. He always appeared wise to prison life and the psychological behaviours of prisoners and was a strong advocate for men doing the time but not becoming a miscarriage of justice themselves, publicising any cruel knock-backs of friends who had become forgotten grey matter over the years.

The opportunity to write was a great one for James, it allowed him to become more perceptive of others and gave him a purpose in showing the many Guardian readers a world they would probably never see. His writing was honest, never biassed and humbling in allowing us into his thoughts and feelings of shame for his crimes (which he never told his audience... only that it all started when he was ten). He was open from the start, albeit careful to change names, places and time frames to protect other prisoners, and the ending was jubilant as he left the prison to continue the rest of his life as a free and redeemed man. That is how I felt about Erwin James, until my curiosity got the better of me and I typed his name into Google.

I was shocked to read that Erwin James (real name James Monahan) had gone to jail for the murders of two men with his accomplice William Ross. The two had spent time together boozing it up and boosting each others fractured confidence before stealing cars and robbing from houses. After meeting Greville Hallam in a Soho bar, where Ross and Monahan were trying to sell videos, the three of them went back to Hallam's house in Hampstead where Monahan got his victim in a headlock and strangled him. Hallam was found bound and naked and a television, stereo and video equipment had been stolen. Three months later Ross and Monahan dragged Angus Cochrane into the rose garden's of St. James's park. The two men kicked, punched and beat Cochrane with a brick before taking the little money he had in his wallet and left him to die.

It is hard not to change your opinion of a man you believe to have redeemed himself when you see the severity of his crimes. It was not mere opportunistic behaviour gone wrong. Both times the two men seemed to revel in their power over another person and enjoyed the cruel savagery they forced on their victims. It is hard not to see past this heinous crime when you read about it in the present, but it is important to remember it was over twenty years ago that this happened. That would never make what Ross and Monahan did forgiveable, but it gives us the chance to see how one man can improve himself in prison.

Some prisoners will refuse to take advantage of opportunities offered to them, but James Monahan was not one of them. Having spent his first year on 23 hour-a-day solitary lock up, Monahan realised he had a lot to improve about himself. He had huge issues with self-worth, could barely read or write and cared little about anything but his own survival. It was a meeting with a wing psychologist that made Monahan appreciate prison could be a new beginning. He spent six years reading Plato and Sophocles through the night and the writers made Monahan realise his own life could have been so different. Brought up in a "brutal and rootless environment" Monahan spent time between his family home and being in care. His Mother died when he was seven and his criminal life began at the age of ten. As a boy there was no one to offer support or guidance and from that Monahan created his own destructive path that led him to twenty years in jail and the blood of two men on his hands. After six years of reading the greats and coming to terms with his previous life, Monahan gained a degree from The Open University.

From then on Monahan was known around the prison wings as "the guy who could write a good letter" and he frequently helped out his fellow prisoners. In 1998 his first column appeared in The Guardian and continued up until his release in 2004. It was brave of Monahan to give Guardian readers an insight into his world, particularly when he had to read out the article down the phone in front of other prisoners and guards, while trying to protect his identity. Once he left prison Monahan continued to work for the charity he worked for while in the open prison, but also wrote for The Guardian. In 2009 someone found out who Monahan really was and spread it on the internet. Uproar ensued: a murderer? I was reading some facking murderer's words? What was that fackin' paper thinking?! etc.

It is the shock of the word: Murder.

It is something that is required inside that person for the deed to take place. Something that most of us don't have. Something evil and unknown. The Guardian were brave to choose Monahan, as I am sure they would know that deep down, one day, it would all come out. But is the crime the reason they chose him? Hell no. The Guardian saw something in Monahan that anyone who reads his books will see: his humanity. They chose him for the choices he made in prison; choices that allowed him to be rehabilitated and reformed into a well respected human being. James Monahan could have spent his time in prison battling authority and fighting other prisoners. He could have continued with a life of crime and violence. Instead he transformed over twenty years from an uncaring brute into a confident, eloquent and contrite man who has done his time. James Monahan's story is shocking, but we must remember that the end result gave the world a man, not a murderer.

Fortress Review

"Welcome to the fortress, it's a world of pain." sang Guns and Roses in the 2017 version of classic tune Welcome to the Jungle... or maybe they didn't, but they should have because it would have had jangly relevance to the over-populated future world that has been created by director Stuart Gordon. Fortress tells the story of protagonist John Brennick and his wife Karen. There are new laws created to control the over-flowing population which John and Karen have broken. That's right, they are "God damn breeders" who try to cross the border to safety while Karen is pregnant with their second child; but they are caught by the under-sexed and over-brainwashed soldiers who send them to (dramatic music please Maestro) the fortress.

Throughout Fortress there is a heavy handed dollop of dehumaization that gets on the verge of tiresome. The men are separated from their wives and have to stand in a cattle cart until they reach a giant hole in the middle of the desert that is the fortress. They must then remove wedding rings and any sentimental signs of a past life, strip and put on orange uniforms with bar codes, are given numbers for names and are punished for disobedience / having an opinion. They are to become drones, slaving away in the day and sharing five to a cell in the night. The only problem is John Brennick ain't no drone (thank the Lord, I don't think I could handle any more scenes of OTT prisoner oppression).

The men are quickly shown just what happens if you don't behave or try to escape in the fortress. They are told "Crime does not pay" and any crime or disobedience results in setting off the Intestinator: a small, explosive object that is swallowed by every prisoner when they enter the fortress that causes agony or death depending on the severity of the crime. A nervous man starts to freak out at the excessive rules of the Men-Tel corporation. He is warned not to try to escape or to go over the yellow lines (which mean pain) or the red lines (which mean death). The man panics and runs, causing his stomach to explode. Just how will our hero escape?

A typical trait of the prison genre is having cell mates with skills or brawn to help aid the storyline along. Fortress is no exception and John Brennick is put in a cell with a computer geek who can give the automated sophistication of Men-Tel a run for it's money and a brawny guy who, after letting his buddy "187" rape Mexican prisoner Gomez, becomes a good chum to the gang and a great bullet proof jacket when they try to escape. It results in his death but hey, that's karma. Brennick not only has the prospect of agonising death as a reason to escape, his wife has been chosen to live with the director of Men-Tel: a half man half robot who has amino acids injected into himself once a month as a way of eating and who has emotions yet can not have sex. The director is lonely and invades the men's subconscious to watch their frequent fantasies of making love to women in mouth-open fascination. That is, of course, before the all seeing computer and all round mega-bitch warns him that he must punish the men for having personal thoughts. It is then we realise that this man is to be the downfall of Men-Tel. He is not enough of a robot to be completely controlled and to not yearn for love but is not enough of a man to please any woman or make them fall in love with him.

There is a lot of violence and gore in Fortress that nearly always involves our protagonist. This shows us John's battle for his individuality, human rights and his morals. There is the fight to defend Gomez from rape and the gladiatorial battle to the death with 187 to save himself and his friend from being killed. When 187 is at Brennick's mercy he is told by Men-Tel to kill the prisoner, but he refuses and helps 187 to his feet. As punishment for showing humanity he has to watch 187 be inestinated before being taken to isolation. What follows isolation is the mind wiping room. Fortress had a modest budget but the use of costumes and set is used to full effect. The mind wiping room in particular has a shining futuristic torture device, checkered floor and minimal props. During his mind wipe the movie takes a psychedelic and metaphorical turn (well as psychedelic and metaphorical as technology in the early 90s allows) as the trip takes John through his past as a pilot, his wedding day and then into disturbingly flashy and spinning sights of snakes in cradles, a foetus in a jar and the gouging out of John's own eyes. The mind wipe leaves John a drooling mess but once Karen has drugged the Director she breaks into the computer system and into John's mind where there is a tres film noir moment. John's subconscious is in black and white, he has regressed to childhood and is trapped down a well. Karen must draw him out of his psychological hell and reaches her hand out to boy John who slowly changes to John the man. Deep.

With John back from his mind coma the cell mates plan their escape and remove their intestinators. Once this is done they work their way up to the Director's floor to try and save Karen. They get found in the pipes and are told to give themselves up. What follows is an impressive gun fight between man and robot. Karen, meanwhile, tries to kill the Director by stabbing him as he strangles Brennick's

Gomez, John and Karen escape in a truck and stop at a barn so Karen can give birth in safety. But what's this? A truck controlled by Men-Tel? It flattens Gomez and has a fight to the death with John who blows it up with his robot gun before racing back to his wife who has given birth. The film ends with the couple smiling with joy at their baby while surrounded by lush, green nature and wide open spaces to symbolise their freedom. Or something in your face like that. Overall Fortress is an above average action movie that gives pause for thought about our future in a populated world. It's no Escape From New York granted, but for a budgeted prison movie with a bit of a brain (with the lovely bonus of the wonderfully whispering and perfectly pensive Christopher Lambert) what more could you want?