His parents had been amazed when he told them he was going to university – he’d never shown much interest in school, never even wanted to go most of the time. He’d been a nightmare, even at primary school: a real mard arse, moaning constantly, telling his parents that he didn’t fit in and that he hated it. Then the bed-wetting started, though that wasn’t his fault; it was down to Trevor Beats. A little bastard he was. All the other parents complained about him too, but nothing ever got done. Everyone just seemed to just turn a blind eye to his reign of terror, let him carry on bullying the other kids day in day out. He’d made Donny’s life a misery from the moment he met him. Donny looked back now and realised the system had failed back then. Donny’s parents had been to the school many times to complain but the story was always the same. ‘It’s just kids, being kids, and maybe Donny should toughen up,’ the headmaster would say – and that was that. Trevor bullied Donny every single day of his primary school life, punching him, kicking him when nobody was looking, nicking his lunch money. And when they finally hit high school, it got worse; the punches got harder, the bruises got darker and Donny hated school more than ever. Most of all he hated that he’d never stood up for himself. He had even thought about running away, never coming back. The stress was too much. He should have been out with his mates, enjoying his teens, but he spent most of those years on the sofa, comfort eating to forget what went on at school. He was nearly sixteen by the time he finally managed to put a lid on it and that was the turning point in his life.

He’d had enough of being the victim. He just wanted to feel normal again and if Trevor was in his life that was never going to happen. He had to sort it out – one way or another.

That day at Morton High School had started out the same as any other, Trevor doing his rounds, picking on all the vulnerable kids, pushing them, spitting at them, making them feel worthless. He was a total gobshite but thought he was the dog’s bollocks. He must have been earning a few quid too, even back then, taking money from every student he bullied.