I am Justin John Carroll.

I was born in Croydon in 1972. I was educated first at Laleham Lea Preparatory School in Purley, then at Wilson’s Grammar School in Wallington, and later at Caterham School for Boys. I studied French and Linguistics at Bangor University, Gwynedd, Cymru, finishing in June 1994.

Between 1994 and 2000, I was in and out of jobs every few months or so as I tried to cope with alcohol addiction. For a few years, most of these jobs were in bars, which didn’t help!

Things came to a head (not a pun) in the summer of 1999 in Spain, in a place called Torrox-Costa, not far from Malaga. It was here that I realised I had to sort out my life.

I came back to London for my older sister’s wedding at the end of that summer, and was okay for a while, but back in the old routine, I soon started drinking again. A few weeks later, I went to the AA, and continued to go for a further nine weeks. It was all that was needed. After the stories I heard in that place, I put down the bottle and haven’t touched a drop since. That was four years ago.

I have been working full time in a law firm in the West End for those last four years, during which time I have trained in Health and Safety, Fire and Rescue and First Aid; I have trained in two styles of kung fu (TigerCrane and Wing Chun), won a dozen or so medals for completing various 10k races, including all the Nike 10k’s and the Portsmouth Great South Run; I have returned to swimming and weight-training, and recently started boxing with The Real Fight Club White Collar Boxing Association.

Meanwhile, I am continuing to progress with my Legal Executive Training course, and am working on an idea for a sitcom.

During the last couple of years, I have developed an interest in photography (is a pun), which explains some of the efforts I’ve included here.