From Hells Angels to Dartmoor to Christ

Posted by The Editor  ·  5 visitor comments

When I asked Brian Greenaway what would have happened if he hadn’t become a Christian he lets out a deep sigh.

“I look like a nice guy, don’t I?” It was true. Well dressed with a smile on his face, Brian looks pretty ordinary.

“I can be very murderous”. Before I have the chance to take in the weight of that statement, he continues: “I never had a fight to hurt a guy, I wanted to kill him.”

“Because of the drugs nothing tempered that. My intent was to really hurt and I would have been banged up for life. I would have killed. I very nearly did.”

'Cutting the bull'

Brian’s story is one of childhood abuse, drugs and life as the president of the Portsmouth based Hells Angels. He describes his new book The Monster Within as a “very in depth emotional roller coaster about being human”.

The theme of being real, honest and human appears within minutes of our conversation.

“It’s about cutting the bull,” he says bluntly.

“That’s what I want to scream at the world; lets stop being hot-chocolate-drinking-lovely-people and actually be real.”

“I was divorced about 16 years ago. I was going to an awfully nice church in Wimbledon. All my friends turned their back on me apart from two guys. That really hurt.”

“When we’re in the gutter that’s when we need people to roll up their sleeves and get alongside us. I don’t see a lot of that in the church.”

If Brian hasn’t witnessed openness in the church, he certainly has in his prison ministry. The ministry which has reached out to inmates for 32 years is now coming to an end, but Brian will carry the stories of those he’s met for the rest of his life.

"The wonderful thing I find about prison ministry is we don’t judge because every person I see is a terrible person in a sense. The church is filled with redeemed sinners and I think sometimes we think we’re redeemed but we forget the sinner bit."

“My world is full of guys who have been through incredible pain, you can’t begin to understand a young black lad who was a child soldier at 5 years old who was cleaning AK-47 guns and at 15 years old was raping and murdering people and is now in our prison system.”

"You can't begin to understand" is a common phrase as Brian talks to me. "I don't mean that in a rude way, but it's true you can't". He's right, of course. 

"This is me, this is who I am this is my past," he says rolling up his sleeves to reveal tatoo covered arms.

"They would say Christians shouldn’t have tattoos. Where does that come from? How judgemental are we being? Some of us grow strong and quick, some of us struggle and struggle. I work with the strugglers and so should the church."

Abuse, violence and fighting back

Brian’s own story starts with a series of painful events.

“My dad left when I was four years old. He left me, my pregnant mum and my younger sister. The painful bit was he visited my auntie two doors down but totally didn’t want to know me and rejected me for years. That really hurt.”

“My mum was angry and bitter that he cleared off. ‘You’re just like your Dad’ she used to say. She hated his guts, so what is she actually saying to me?”

“When I was 8 years old there was a step father He would be the guy who would beat me with his belt. My Mum would beat me with whatever was available. Lots of violence, no love at all.”

It was this background that influenced Brian’s attitude towards violence.

“There came a time when that ended and [I decided] I’m going to fight back. So it would be a knife or a piece of steel in my hand. In the end it became a gun.”

Brian wears a gold necklace with a model shotgun on the end. “This is to remember my roots,” he says, brandishing it in my direction, explaining it helps keep his pride in check. "Don’t get on any ego trip Brian Greenaway," he says to himself.

Delivered in Dartmoor

Brian became a Christian in the infamous Dartmoor Prison.

“A lovely Christian man visited me and he talked to me for about an hour then he said ‘is there anything I can get you?’

“I thought ‘a yacht in Torquay would be nice!’ Then I said, ‘have you heard of a living Bible?’ I wasn’t religious at all, I was a total animal. I used to go to church just to get out of my cell. He went into his briefcase and pulled out a Living Bible. He also gave me a copy of Run Baby Run.

“I went back to my cell. I’m a hard man. I’m reading Run Baby Run and I started cry. Men don’t cry, not in my world.”

“When I read about Nicky Cruz whose life was totally changed by God, I thought 'if God could do that for him, he can do it for me'. My message now is ‘if God can do it for me he can do it for you, whoever you are. If God can reach me in that filthy pit in Dartmoor, he can reach you, whatever state your head is in.'”

It's a remarkable story. But with prisons often making headlines, I couldn't resist asking what Brian thinks of the UK system now.

“Prison is a doddle now, it’s a joke. It’s ridiculous. Prisoners having rights? I struggle with that. When you abuse and you end up in prison, I think you forfeit rights. I think prison should be a lot tougher and a challenge. It should wake you up.”

“When you go in it should scare you. I have met many for whom it’s a continual circle. For some it’s a matter of days before they are back in again.”

Coming back to his earlier topic of honesty in the Church, Brian admits a truth many would rather keep quiet.

“Within this framework of Brian Greenaway there is a monster. Although Paul says in the Bible 'therefore in Christ Jesus we are a new creation', I wrestle with that because I know in here there’s a human being.”

With all this talk about encouraging Christians to be real and hearing about the pain Brian has gone through, his answer to my next question is unsurprising.

What does the rest of this year have in store for you?

“Something to do with helping hurting people. We had a letter yesterday of a guy screaming out for help. There’s a lot of people out there who are desperate for help and I’m just hoping please God that my book will be of value to them."

“I’m not writing a book because I want to be rich or I think my publishers are wonderful. I’m writing a book for it to be a blessing to people.”

“I want to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do.”

You can read more of Brian's story in The Monster Within: Hells Angel to God's Messenger.

25th June

June 25th, 2012 - Posted & Written by The Editor

Thumbs Down 0
Thumbs Up 0

Did you find this article useful?

5 Visitor Comments

Join in the Eden community and comment on this article

Andy Renshaw

Andy Renshaw

Posts: 1

This man was one of the guys that helped me become a Christian when he visited my college in 1992!

Monday, 25th June 2012 at 1:10PM

Reply to this comment

0 Thumbs Down
1 Thumbs Up

Did you find this comment useful?

CrazyRev crazyrev.blogspot.com

CrazyRev crazyrev.blogspot.com

Posts: 2

A leopard cannot change its spots - unless, of course, the Lord intervenes!! Prais Him for another changed life.

Monday, 25th June 2012 at 3:13PM

Reply to this comment

0 Thumbs Down
1 Thumbs Up

Did you find this comment useful?

Tony the Mojo

Tony the Mojo

Posts: 1

I knew Brian a long time ago, back in our home town in Hampshire, His good buddy at the time was called YoYo who is now in Heaven, and Tony the Mojo who has also found Jesus, and works helping children all over the world. Would love to meet up again some day

Tuesday, 24th January 2017 at 3:55PM

Reply to this comment

0 Thumbs Down
1 Thumbs Up

Did you find this comment useful?

Revved up rev

Revved up rev

Posts: 1

Brian Greenaway is one of the most honourable, and truthful people i have met. I first met him years ago when he shared his story of how he was saved and changed by God. The guy is a diamond, and i still have a copy of Hells Angel and it's been handed to so many outlaw friends of mine

Wednesday, 21st February 2018 at 3:35PM

Reply to this comment

0 Thumbs Down
1 Thumbs Up

Did you find this comment useful?

Ste

Ste

Posts: 1

Hi I need to speak to Brian it's quite urgent we met in 2008 and he helped me very much and I need his help again if anyone could please let him know I'm trying to contact him I'd be very grateful my name is Steven could you reply to this blog and give me contact info so I can send my info to him if poss..many thanks god bless

Friday, 27th November 2020 at 8:24PM

Reply to this comment

0 Thumbs Down
0 Thumbs Up

Did you find this comment useful?

Leave A Comment

Leave your comments or suggestions in regards to this article.

Please login to post a comment.
Most Popular Articles
Prayer Books Every Christian Should Read
Posted on Monday 15th of January
New Lent Bible Study Guides 2024
Posted on Monday 15th of January
LENT COURSES - How to choose the right one for you
Posted on Monday 15th of January
When is Easter 2024?
Posted on Friday 5th of January
Christian Christmas Cards
Posted on Friday 20th of October
Prayer Books Every Christian Should Read
Posted on Monday 15th of January
New Lent Bible Study Guides 2024
Posted on Monday 15th of January
LENT COURSES - How to choose the right one for you
Posted on Monday 15th of January
When is Easter 2024?
Posted on Friday 5th of January
Christian Christmas Cards
Posted on Friday 20th of October
LENT COURSES - How to choose the right one for you
Posted on Monday 15th of January
New Advent Study Guides
Posted on Monday 16th of October
Where to Watch the New C.S. Lewis Film
Posted on Thursday 12th of May
Free Christian Resources for Children
Posted on Friday 1st of May
The Eden Bible Guide series
Posted on Monday 17th of February
Recent Article Comments

Nia Wright has made 0 posts.

34 useful comments

A Reader has made 70 posts.

28 useful comments

Les Ellison has made 44 posts.

11 useful comments

James Warwood has made 4 posts.

9 useful comments

Lyn Myers has made 5 posts.

8 useful comments

Last updated: 2 days7 hrs16 mins ago