Twelve years. Three jailbreaks. One fight for justice. 

To some he’s a thief, to others he’s a champion, to most he’s Alfred ‘Houdini’ Hinds, the most prolific jailbreaker in British history. Convicted for a high stakes jewellery robbery to which he pled his innocence, Hinds was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1953. 

Contempt of Court is the seemingly improbable story of the next 12 years of Hinds’ life: the fugitive who escaped from three separate high security prisons and spent 248 days on the run; the convict who taught himself law in jail, the man who went on to win a libel suit against his arresting offer and gain a pardon from the court.

Hinds became a media darling and a public fascination but this, finally, is his story in his own words.