He was a firefighter, a council official and even the chairman of the board of governors of a school.
Yet no employers in the Western Isles want to give Mike Riley a job for long.
Exaggerated rumours about a drunken incident which saw him jailed always lose him jobs so he has decided to put the record straight.
Mike has applied for countless jobs on Lewis. They usually last for just weeks and the most recent was for a few days. When his bosses hear rumours about his past, in which he is claimed to have held his family at gunpoint, Mike is let go.
Mike Riley
Although wildly exaggerated, there is a little truth about an incident of which he is deeply ashamed.
In 2007, during a period in which he was drinking too much, Mike became grief-stricken when his sister who was seriously unwell for years died of a stroke. He sought solace in vodka on Easter weekend at his Stornoway home.
As he drank, he got angrier and asked his wife and children to leave the house.
When police arrived, Mike was upstairs with his air rifle. Although he remembers little, he accepts he pointed it at two officers. It was a siege but no one was held hostage.
As soon as he began to sober up, Mike, who is 48, handed himself over to police. He admitted his guilt.
“I pled guilty to save the taxpayer money. I was guilty and that was it.”
Declining to apply for bail, he was on remand and later sentenced to two years in prison.
Opting to work rather than stagnate, his first job was in the laundry.
“Porterfield Prison in Inverness was an easy life. If you are prepared to work in prison you get privileges. I got the reception pass man job which is for the most trusted prisoners. I could go to the gym and even make phone calls when I wanted to. It was my family that suffered at home.”
Mike also became a prison listener, a role with training by the Samaritans to help other prisoners with thoughts of suicide.
However, rumours reached the prison that he had several guns in the siege. Claims circulated that he was linked to other crimes – including the mysterious shooting of Nairn-based banker Alistair Wilson.
Mike, who was released on licence from Porterfield after serving a year, said: “The truth is I haven’t committed any other crimes except misdemeanours as a teenager.”
While many people he meets seem to forgive and forget his night of madness, Mike comes up against problems when he goes for a job.
With experience in management and construction, he does win jobs. Then whispers start and he loses them.
“I never get to put my side of the story. It’s always the rumours that are believed and there is a news article online that can be googled and it suggests I used a firearm and assaulted my wife. That is misleading.”
In fact, the charges were two counts of assault on the police officers and a breach of the Firearms Act 1968. By pointing the air rifle at the officers, that was assault.
“There was no firearm involved. Not that that makes it any better, but people are misquoting what I did. I’ve got to the stage where I just want to work.
“I’ve done my time and although I’m unemployed, I don’t claim benefits. I’m putting my cards on the table so that people will judge me with my side of the story rather than from the whispers with embellishments.”
Mike’s past work history is not unimpressive. He was a retained firefighter for 12 years in Kent, very much part of that community, and was also a school governor and then the chairman of the governing body at Swan Valley Community School in Swanscombe, Kent.
“There are many things in my past where I’ve given back but that is never something I’ve been given a chance to talk about.”
He also worked as a Private Finance Initiative liaison officer for Kent County Council.
“I’ve also worked in retail and in the licenced trade, our family business. I would like someone to give me the chance and judge me on my merits rather than on my past.”
Now living with his family in Breasclete, Mike says he has not touched alcohol since the incident that saw him jailed.
Legally, he does not have to declare his conviction to employers, as the jail term was less than 30 months and more than four years ago. But he wants to put his own story out there to set the record straight.
The former school governor insists he will take any job that will pay him a living wage – even sweeping the streets.
“I want to feel some self-worth rather than being kept. I just want to get up and have a reason to go and do a day’s work – an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.”
It is hard for his family because he cannot provide the things he wants to, he says. With Christmas round the corner, he is sad he still cannot afford to buy family presents.
“They’re all grown up and the youngest is 16, so they understand. I am proud of them all and I just want to pay them back.”
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