Shame made me lie about being in prison to my Indian community'

Pratik Doshi says “shame” from his cannabis conviction pushed him to lie to his Indian community while he was serving a two-year prison sentence for drug offences. During calls to his aunties, he pretended he was still studying accountancy at university. Doshi, 30, was arrested in 2016 and later convicted of conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession with intent to supply. Since his release, he works for Breakthrough Social Enterprise, a government-funded programme that runs workshops in places including Suffolk and Norfolk to help former prisoners build IT and artificial technology skills for employment. He and his co-defendant, Sobanan Narenthiran, describe regret, family strain and taboo around discussing prison. They also allege that language barriers and lack of advocates leave some prisoners “lost.”