About: Erwin James

Erwin James Monahan (born 1957) is a columnist and convicted murderer who has written for The Guardian since 1998, writing under the name "Erwin James" whilst still incarcerated. He was released in August 2004 having served 20 years of a life sentence. From 2000 he wrote a regular column about prison life entitled A Life Inside, the first column of its kind in the history of British journalism. He continued to write for the national press and became the editor-in-chief of Inside Time, a national newspaper in the UK for people in prison, as well as doing charity work, since his release. While he was in prison he did not receive fees for his articles; instead these were paid to a charity, the Prisoners' Advice Service, which had helped him.