Harry Marsden was put into a Catholic Children's home when he was four years old in 1945. During the eleven years Harry was in the care of the Sisters of Charity, he endured an unremitting torrent of physical abuse and saw many other boys endure sexual abuse.
Harry said of this: "It was worse than any prison. Obviously I was institutionalized, there was only one road I could go down and nobody was going to give me an office job! So I turned to the criminal side of things. I was a professional criminal".
The real life story of Harry Marsden would even eclipse such fictional films as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction when, from his teenage
years onwards Harry went on to lead a life of crime, he became an armed robber, involved in hauls totalling millions.
It was as though the
film Pulp Fiction was based on the
life of Harry Marsden and his accomplices in crime. He was a typical old
school villain, carrying out numerous robberies over many decades but always
paying a high price for his deeds by the loss of his liberty.
Harry turned his back on the life of crime, fought off cancer and turned his life around when he then dedicated his life to helping others through his boxing club.
A lot of attention has been given over to
the Catholic Churches sexual abuse of children in their care, but this attention
seems to have been hijacked by the media and has overshadowed the many
thousands of victims that endured physical abuse.
It is hoped that
this story from the late Harry Marsden will help those pursuing actions for
abuse. Not just this, but to counteract the ongoing failure of the Catholic
Church to prevent further abuse to children.
Harry said of winning his Hero of the North award and the O.B.E. (Order of the british Empire) he received at Buckingham Palace:
"From my side of the walk, from my life it's just unnatural. It was for the work I have done over the last 24 years in taking lads and lasses out of the streets, taking them off drugs, taking them out of crime and helping ex-offenders. Also, not just me, but my boxers as well in helping the disabled and the elderly."
