Lee Jack only arrived at Perth vegan café Rascals a few months ago, but he is already one of its most popular faces.
With a natural gift of the gab, he is a perfect fit for front of house.
His exceptional table service is praised by customers who often ask after him on the days he’s not working.
And his boss is thrilled by his remarkable sales skills, particularly when it comes to persuading diners to add a cake or two to their order.
“I’m a salesman,” he admits. “I used to sell a lot of drugs. Now I’m selling cakes.”
Lee works at Rascals, on Perth’s relatively upmarket George Street, two days a week as he nears the end of a four-and-a-half year sentence at HMP Castle Huntly.
In 2019, he was captured by police as part of Operation Fortitude, a crackdown on serious organised criminals in Stirlingshire and central Scotland.
Cops seized cannabis and cocaine with a street value of £400,000, along with £250,000 in cash.
Lee was jailed, alongside three other men, at the High Court in Edinburgh in May 2022.
Judge Lord Woolman told them: “Each of you chose to become involved in illegal activity. You decided to take a calculated risk.”
Now Lee, 42, has in his own words gone from “dealer to healer”.
At Rascals, he helps train a staff of troubled youngsters, many who have been excluded from their schools.
“I’m teaching these guys to be the person I wasn’t,” he said.
“Who better to do that than someone from the trenches.”
No judgement
Rascals is the brainchild of Dodie Piddock, the founder of social enterprise Starting Step.
She is passionate about helping others, but also about plant-based cooking – so much so, she doesn’t allow any animal products on the premises.
Since it launched at an old travel agents’ office nearly two years ago, Rascals has won over customers – meat eaters included – from all around the world.
But the café also boasts a growing reputation as a force for good in terms of supporting, rehabilitating and reintegrating those who might otherwise disappear through the cracks.
Dodie explains its a two-pronged approach.
“The strategy has always been to stop people going into prison but also to work with the ones who are already there,” she said.
The café is in the main staffed by teenagers and serving prisoners, supported by a small dedicated crew led by Dodie.
Research shows Scottish pupils excluded aged 12 are four times as likely as other children to be jailed as adults.
“These kids are seen as bad children, disruptive, they can’t sit still in the classroom,” Dodie said.
“Some have ADHD, autism, some can’t cope with didactic teaching.
“But goodness me, they’re bright.”
Dodie, a former teacher, speaks with pride of one worker who was referred to her by youth services.
“She was classed as irredeemable, excluded from every school,” she said.
“But she came back the other week to tell me how she was now starting her studies at Dundee University.”
Dodie said: “At Rascals, they get to learn what society expects from them, without being judged by that same society.
“Our customers are awesome and completely in tune with what we are doing.”
Becoming his ‘true self’
On the other end, Rascals works with prisoners coming out of the system.
“They have something I don’t have,” said Dodie.
“I’m good with youngsters and I can tell them that they don’t want to end up in prison.
“But I’ve never been on the other side of that closing door.
“Lee has, and he can tell them what prison is actually like.”
Dodie says she has never Googled Lee and isn’t interested in what he is serving time for.
“I know he isn’t a bad guy, born to do horrendous things,” she said. “He just took a wrong path.”
Lee moved to Castle Huntly open prison in May, having served most of his sentence at HMP Glenochil.
“I’ve spent six years in recovery. There’s been a few slip ups along the way.
“If you watch too many Danny Dyer or Ross Kemp documentaries, you come away thinking that prison is full of these big, hard b******s.
“But it’s not like that – there’s a lot of young guys trapped inside big men’s bodies.”
However, he agrees with Dodie’s theory that for about 10% of prisoners “you could just throw away the key”.
He said: “Rascals gives me the opportunity to practice that re-adjustment in the community.
“And that gives me the confidence to know I don’t need to play a character any more.
“When you’re involved in crime, you lose your authenticity.
“This place has given me the opportunity to be my true self.”
Revolving door
Lee is now determined to help others in recovery, as well as steering young people away from a potential life of crime.
“I can take my experiences and use them to mentor the wee guys here,” he said.
“I want to inspire them to do the right thing.
“When you’re involved in criminal activity, you are looking for validation and acceptance from the wrong people.
“I thought I was indestructible for 20 years. I was looking up to the people doing the bad stuff.
“That was your peers – these drug dealers and violent criminals. That was my inspiration.
“But these young guys need to know that it’s not the right way, otherwise it is just a revolving door.”
Lee, who said he lost 16 years to addiction, is also working at Glenochil on a recovery programme.
“There’s barely any aftercare for people coming out of prison,” he said.
“We need to give them abilities, some kind of vision.
“People say, why are you doing this for prisoners? Why are you mollycoddling them?
“We’re not, we are simply giving them something to do.
“We’re trying to keep them off the streets, trying to keep them out of your sheds and stealing your cars.
“And who better to do that than someone who lived in the trenches.”
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