Petty criminal given play to write as community service.

A convicted criminal was handed an unexpected sentence when he was found guilty of receiving stolen goods last year. The 23 year old Manchester man was ordered to write about his crimes to hopefully detour others from following his criminal path.

"I told the court that the best use of my community service would be to educate others about my past" Caz explained "To show young people that a life of crime isn't like in the films, there's no glamour involved in sitting in a prison cell counting the hours, days or years wasting a life". He continued.

After writing his story he gave it to playwright Mark Whiteley who turned it into a play and entered it into to a play writing competition in Manchester. "It's a true story from my past" said Caz, "I've changed the characters names, but I'm sure people from Manchester will know who I'm talking about. I was that scared I even changed my name on the play so no-one would know me".

Grass opens on the 21st July as part of Manchester's 24:7 festival.

The truth hurts...

BY MARK WHITELEY

WARNING THIS FILM CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND SCENES OF A VIOLENT NATURE