A former Liverpool drug dealer who was once one of the country's most wanted men has highlighted the emotional toll on children whose parents serve long prison sentences. I remember one case, where the dad was imprisoned for a serious offence, and he left a mother and three children. The community became abusive to the children and mother, throwing bottles at the house and writing offensive graffiti on their door. The family had to be moved into a refuge. They were then moved out of their home area for their safety. The mother became extremely withdrawn and depressed and in the end the children were taken into care." This arrest now brings Operation Captura’s success rate to over 75 per cent as 46 of those sought have now been located out of a total of 60 appeals. His time on the most wanted list came to an end in October 2011 when he handed himself in at Copy Lane station. It's not common but kids can go into care under last resort measures. Family members usually step in and become surrogate parents in situations when its looking like the local authority care team are ready to take actions. You don’t know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it. Regret and remorse always come later."

I was part of an organised drugs group, I started at the bottom and worked my way up, bringing drugs in and selling them. Between 1992 and 1995 I lived half the year in the UK and half the year abroad, sourcing drugs and networking. Drugs is about greed and always wanting more; you become addicted.

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I know that the kids smoking weed sign up for certain culture. They wear certain clothes, have the Ketwig big hair look and become very lazy. He said: "I spend most of my time going into schools and colleges across the region to tell them my story. Basically I tell the kids that if you want to ruin your life, become a drug dealer. Yes it will pay for the house and the nice car but then when one day the whole lot will just go and you will be left with nothing. And if you think being told that you can't go to your sister's funeral is cool, yes crime is for you. "

I am currently fit as a fiddle. I still remember the phone call from the consultant saying after the biopsy I was in remission. I can remember giving no reaction, as I thought that day would never come. Paul said that he started to slip into criminality following the death of his father when he was just 14.

Dr Lorna Brookes, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, has spent the last 12 years supporting children who have a parent in prison.