I have a scattered family, siblings everywhere. If you work it out, I have exactly half a brother and two and a half sisters. (No one was chopped up – I have one full sister, three half sisters and a half brother.) Far from your ‘average’ family. My folks went their own way when my big sis and I were just toddlers and started off their own families. But we all stuck together as we grew up and will always share a bond.

The eldest, me, and the youngest, John, had a bit of a tough time growing up. Two lads with no dad around meant that we didn’t have much in the way of role models to form ourselves on. I was lucky in the sense that I leant towards the army from my early teens and it put me on the right tracks. John was not so lucky.

He grew really quicky, and was six foot almost when he was just thirteen. Due to his size, he’d hang around with older lads on his rough estate in Bootle. And with that came trouble. He started a life of women, stolen cars, drink and drugs at an age when other mothers would be sending their kids to bed at 10pm. He was out of control.

But when it came to the rare times I’d get to spend time with him, he’d change. He’d look up to me, want to play the guitar and DJ like me, hopefully aspiring to be something more than what life was dealing him. I used to think I was getting through to him, too. He even came up to the studios with my dad for a recording session and seemed so keen.

But the easy life, dodgy mates, ready fists – they were his undoing. Aged just seventeen, he has now been sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for ABH. I’m not listening to the excuses and the reasoning. I guess he was a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off.

Now that it’s happened, he’s understandably filled with remorse. I’m sure he can justify some of his actions but at the end of the day, he has fucked up big style. He’ll spend half his sentence in a Young Offenders Institution before going to Big Boys’ Prison. I’m sure he’ll be able to look after himself, but he won’t be the same person when he comes out.

Gutted.