IAN WADLEY
Ian Wadley is a big, powerful black man. You’d never knock this man over – he’s solid all over, as wide as he’s tall. When he was doing five years for armed robbery, he met a screw called Gary Taylor who recognised his natural strength and encouraged him in body-building and weight-lifting. Since then he’s been in championship contests for both – he’s lifted 600 kilos! – and it shows. Ian is fit, although not as fit as he was. In November 2000, he was shot in the back and leg when someone tried to murder him. He’s also been axed in the leg and stabbed three times.
When I first met him, I didn’t think he looked like an Ian. His looks and size and power just don’t suit the name. I thought he should be called something else – Razor, for example! He didn’t agree with me.
Instead, I nicknamed him Prada because of the way he looks, the smart way he dresses; his image is so important to him. He’s got to have the best of everything. He’s got over £40,000 worth of clothes in his wardrobe, all the best designer gear – suits, shoes, the lot. I can’t imagine Ian would ever wear anything from Marks and Spencer and when he goes out he really does look the biz! So, I call him Prada.
Ian is a hard bastard, no doubt about it – he’s been picked up for three murders, not to mention the armed robberies. But behind the toughness there’s real gentleness. He’s so quiet and polite, almost humble. In my experience, they are the most dangerous.
And he’s obviously madly in love with Sarah, a gorgeous Page 3 girl and lap-dancer – he can’t watch her when she dances at the club. He waits upstairs while she’s doing her turn. (I watched and she was amazing – like Olga Korbut on acid!)
Ian couldn’t have been more helpful when he appeared in my first TV series of Hard Bastards. He let me into all parts of his life. He let me see his world, his house, his business, his gym and he’s an extraordinary man, the kind who sets himself a goal and goes all out to achieve it. Then, having done that, he drops it and goes on to the next goal. Always higher, always better, always more.
He let me into his world, but I couldn’t help feeling that Ian is a very secretive man; he plays his cards close to his chest. I know he is a dangerous man but I didn’t see him as intimidating. And yet … and yet … I felt there were deep, dark secrets that I hadn’t yet uncovered. I couldn’t – or Ian wouldn’t let me – uncover.
BACKGROUND
I’ve got brothers and sisters but I was lonely as a boy. I don’t want to say why I was unhappy, I just was. It upsets me to think about it, let alone talk about it.
LIFE OF CRIME
I’ve been in prison for an armed robbery. My job was to go in there and get the safe out – that was my main job. I got five years for that. I’ve been arrested three times for murder, once for armed robbery. Shootings, stabbings, things like that, mainly being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Honest!
IS PRISON A DETERRENT?
No. But I wouldn’t want to go back inside. Having said that, I’m old-fashioned. If it was a friend, or someone I’d known for a long time, and they were in trouble, I would go out of my way to do something to help them, whatever that meant. I would probably regret my actions because it would be a long time inside or whatever … I’d stop and think … but I’d probably stop and think after the crime.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?
No. Well, yes and no. It depends on the crime. My answer would probably be yes if it was a child molester or something like that, or someone who was going around raping kids. If it were a daughter of mine, I’d kill him myself. But anything else … it’s a difficult question, isn’t it? … Getting rid of someone full-stop.
WHAT WOULD HAVE DETERRED YOU FROM A LIFE OF CRIME?
A better upbringing, I suppose. It’s the way I was brought up. I come from a working background. My dad was a builder and plumber – now, in some families they’ll push their sons and daughters in the right direction. But in our family, my dad was all ‘Do this’ and ‘Do that’ and a few years ago my old man said, ‘No one’s taking my place,’ or whatever and my brother said, ‘Well, push us in the right direction.’ He could have done but it wasn’t like that in our family. And that’s why I took to crime and things like that.
But I suppose I’m too old to make excuses now. It’s not just about money – if I’d been pushed in the right direction, I would have got a better education, a better job. As it was, I ended up doing silly jobs like being a ‘gofer’ – all sorts. I worked for Barclays Bank for a few weeks, as it happens!
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN STABBED/SHOT?
I’ve been stabbed in the arm, stabbed in the tops of my legs, I’ve been shot in the legs and I’ve still got a bullet in the kneecap. I’ve been shot in the back and macheted in the leg. Yes, I’ve been through it all.
SCARIEST MOMENT?
I should say being shot is my scariest moment. Being shot is pretty scary.
SADDEST MOMENT?
I’d rather not say.
WHAT RATTLES YOUR CAGE?
Not much. Except bullies. Bullies rattle my cage. They have ever since I was bullied as a boy.
HAVE YOU EVER REALLY LOVED ANYONE?
Sarah, my girlfriend, my partner. I’ve been straight with her. I’ve told her everything. She knows everything about me. I know everything about her. We have a really good relationship because it’s based on trust.
WHAT FRIGHTENS YOU?
Sarah and rats! I do like to go out with my mates but people will always rat on me to Sarah! Nine times out of ten, if I go to a club there’s a friend of Sarah’s working there! Perhaps I spend too long speaking to one girl – and they rat on me! That’s frightening!
DESCRIBE A HARD BASTARD
Most hard bastards are quiet but there’s something about them; it’s the way they walk, their presence, their aura, people around you know if you’ve got it, they can feel it.
NAME A HARD BASTARD
Johnny Adair. I know some Irish people who know him and if you do something to him he’ll come back to you the next day. He’s a fearsome, fearless man. Do something to him and he’ll come after you and I do respect him.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?
Owning a couple of villas, hopefully settling down, getting married. Having a good family life, really – that’s the most important thing.
ANY REGRETS?
No regrets at all. No. Being in prison taught me how to survive on the street. If I never achieve anything, then I’ll have regrets, but so far I have no regrets. I’ve achieved things. I’ve travelled all over the world. I’ve done my fair share of things on my own so I haven’t got any regrets.
I wouldn’t mind going into films but nothing major – a small part or something would be good – I’d like to be an actor, but nothing major – an EastEnders role maybe! Or perhaps I could work for Guy Ritchie or someone like that!