Stoke armed robber plans to make gangster movie

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An armed robber from Coventry who has turned to acting is planning a new film charting his violent life.


Daniel Christie (left) and actor Adrian Craig Mason (right)are making a film in Coventry and Birmingham

As the Telegraph exclusively revealed earlier this month, Adrian Mason, 36, of Villiers Street, Stoke, is currently appearing in King Lear as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s summer programme, and has just landed a lead role in a Greek tragedy at a Birmingham theatre.

He is now working with Coventry screenwriter Danny Christie, 21, and Nuneaton director Sean Forge on a new film called Petty and Peak – a tough gangland thriller.

A trailer from the movie will be shown at this year’s International Crime Film Festival at Birmingham’s Custard Factory next month.

But Adrian says he doesn’t just want to be labelled as the next Vinnie Jones or Jason Statham.

“I don’t want to be typecast as a gangster,” he said.

“I can bring a lot of experience and emotion to a role like that, but I want to move on and try new things after this project.”

Adrian was first locked up at 14 and spent his teens engrossed in crime. In July 2000 he was jailed for a string of armed robberies across the region.

Two years later into his sentence he escaped from Rye Hill prison near Rugby. He was tracked down and sent back to jail for six years.

Speaking about his remarkable turnaround, he added: “All I’d known was crime. I never had anything to aim at, no one took any interest unless I was in trouble.

“When I got sent back (to prison) I did my education, started a degree, and started to get into creative writing, theatre and performing.”

Adrian gained a qualification through the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and on his release in 2007 he started rebuilding his life.

He said: “Now I’m determined to make it. I can play anything, gay, straight, doctor, gangster. I’d love to work all over the world, but I want to keep my roots in the Midlands and support the film scene here.

“I want to give something back. I’ve done a lot of things wrong and I want to stop people going down the same road, and try to save some of the pain and trouble that causes.”

Screenwriter of the new film, Danny, from Radford, said actors are still needed.

He said: “We’re trying to make a cult movie. It’s subtle. Not all guns, girls and violence. It’s about corruption.

“We’re looking for talented people to come along and take part. You don’t have to be trained actors, we want real people, street people with spark and vibe.”

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Coventry armed robber turned actor jailed again

AN ARMED robber from Coventry who said he had given up his life of crime to become a Shakespearean actor has been jailed again for shoplifting.

Adrian Mason, 37, told the Telegraph last summer that he was putting his offending behind him after gaining acting qualifications while serving a ten-year prison sentence for armed robbery.

But yesterday he was back in front of a judge in Coventry Crown Court and was jailed for 11 months after admitting three counts of shoplifting.

Mason, who also goes by the name of Adrian Harriman, had been due to appear in a production of Romeo And Juliet at Rugby Theatre in May.

In his interview with the Telegraph, Mason, who carried out a series of armed robberies in Coventry and Warwickshire in 2000, said he had been forced into shoplifting by his parents from the age of nine, but had learned his lesson and was turning his life around.

In court yesterday, the father-of-one, of Sewell Highway, Wyken, also admitted breaching a court order by failing to turn up to two unpaid work appointments.

John Edwards, prosecuting, told the court that Mason had on three occasions stolen bottles of perfume or aftershave worth a total of £448 from Coventry stores.

He said he had taken them to give as gifts to people who had helped him.

On his arrest, he gave a false name and date of birth to police.

Mr Edwards said: “The defendant knew he was an idiot for what he had done and told police he stole the items to make a quick buck.”

Richard Murray, defending, said his client suffered with depression and Crohn’s disease, which is why he failed to attend work appointments.

Mr Murray said: “It would be foolish of me to say he is a man not known to the courts.

"These thefts came at a time when his benefits had stopped because he had found work.

“He has tried to turn his life around but he feels depressed, lonely and, without finances, had been trying to survive.

“Balance that against his persistent offending and non-compliance with the community order, and at some stage it will have to be reflected by a sanction.”

Recorder Mark Rhind said Mason’s offending had a sense of “professionalism” and sentenced him to 11 months in prison.

He said: “It is clear you have in recent years been given opportunities that you never thought would come your way and some people would only dream of.

“Time and time again you have been given the opportunities, you have had the help and support from people around you, and time and time again you have let yourself down.

“You committed the offences because you had incurred debts and wanted to show gratitude at Christmas for people that had supported you, but that is a lame excuse to put before the court. There are thousands of people who have issues with money and don’t resort to the offending you did.”

Last year Mason appeared in King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company, had recorded a documentary with the BBC and was also working on several film projects, including one about his life.