There was a time, not so long ago, when the name Moss Side conjured up images of dystopian Manchester streets riddled with drug-related gang gun crime. The epicentre of 'Gunchester' in the 90s, the district was one of the toughest areas in the UK to police. Our guest this week, James Ellson did just that, and was responsible for serious crimes in the division, from shootings, robberies to suspicious deaths. Seeking a change of direction after his police career, James is now a smallholder in the Peak District, as well as a crime author. Drawing on his passion for Nepal where he has trekked extensively, James devised the DCI Castle series, which plunges Manchester-based DCI Rick Castle into a series of investigations in the Himalayan nation. As James tells us, it's a passion project, combining his front-line police experience with his love of Nepal and its people.
Also this week, we discuss how a Liverpool library was caught up in recent social unrest across the UK and the campaign to raise funds to replace the books destroyed in the subsequent fire, and we hear about the latest efforts to protect creative professionals and their incomes against the march of AI.
James Ellson – Writer, Smallholder, Speaker
DCI Castle Series - available here
Fundraiser by Alex McCormick : Books for Spellow Lane (gofundme.com)
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