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Without an ounce of self-pity, Frank Steadman describes the 10 days in segregation which coincided with his brother dying by suicide.

Human feces were spread across the walls of his cell, and he was locked in for 24 hours a day with the exception of one shower and 20 minutes of yard time for exercise. It was from this dank room he watched his brother's funeral on a TV screen.

The Essex dad, now 42, who was given a nine year sentence for supplying class A drugs, told The Mirror: "I accepted why I was there really quickly." On receiving the news in 2009 he was being moved to HMP Belmarsh and was being blocked from attending his brother Kane's funeral he said: "There's no point kicking off - I'm not a violent character, I'm quite realistic, but I was also really upset.

"It's a bed, a chair and a table with an integrated sink and toilet - nothing else," Frank said of the cell. "There were human feces all over the wall - but I thought I put myself in this mess, I've got to get myself out of it."

Fleeing the UK for Thailand, Frank was intercepted at Heathrow Airport on his way back after attempting to escape his role as a runner in a trafficking gang. He pleaded guilty for his involvement in an £80 million drug supply conspiracy.

Frank spent the days after Kane's death simply, saying: "I literally just woke up, did some press-ups and a cell work-out and when it got dark, went straight to bed. I was allowed a shower once a day and they'd lock me in. I had one visit from my mum because I said it was her birthday and she'd just lost one son. Kane was 34 when he died, a week into Frank's sentence in 2009. I was escorted by dogs and she was behind glass."

Frank was moved to a category A prisoner status and not allowed to say goodbye to his brother because it was said he had the means to escape prison. A Prison Service spokesperson told the Mirror: "These are historical and unverified claims."

Fleeing the UK for Thailand, Frank was intercepted at Heathrow Airport after attempting to escape role as a runner in an organised drug trafficking gang. He pleaded guilty for his involvement in an £80 million drug supply conspiracy. He served half of his nine year sentence and watched his children Louie, five and one-year-old Isabella, grow up in that time.

This week he's walking 200 miles over 10 days, aligning with the 10 days he spent in solitary confinement at HMP Belmarsh when his brother Kane died of suicide. Frank is raising money for National Prison Radio, which he described as "a lifeline" when he was behind bars. At the time of writing, he has raised £1,775.

However, he thinks the experience of missing his brother whilst in segregation has numbed him. He explained: "The thing that happened with my brother - it de-sensitized me. I'm a bit numb from everything.

"There's a bit of a running joke in my family that I'm a robot - I am emotional but when really bad things happen - I don't know how to grieve. I wouldn't know how to grieve in prison. I blocked all my emotions just to get through the day. It's easier to educate children than fix broken adults," Frank said.

Despite feeling like the only way to get through his sentence was turning off his feelings, Frank has spent his days since leaving prison in 2019 speaking to young people about avoiding crime.

He said: "I was a normal kid, I just didn't have much money and went down the wrong path."

An Arsenal fan, Frank admitted winding up at pubs after football games led him to "look up to the wrong people" because they had money. From watching games with them at 15 he then knew them well by the time he was going to nightclubs in his late teens.

"All ex prisoners come out of prison and they're all going to live next door to somebody - years and years have gone by where my criminal record had affected me.I was probably more gutted and embarrassed when I first went to prison, but It might have given me more than it took away from me. Everybody deserves a second chance."

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