After Tom Roberts, from Cheshire, left school, he was sentenced for grievous bodily harm, a moment he has described as the “wake up call” he needed to turn his life around
A man once labelled “Britain’s naughtiest kid” now earns £360,000-a-year by running a personal developmental school in Thailand.
Tom Roberts now helps other people “transform their lives” having made significant changes himself following a term in a young offenders institution for grievous bodily harm. Following this spell, the 24-year-old man indulged in self-help books and sought out advice from wellness coaches, such as Bob Proctor, which inspired him to move to Kok Samui, Thailand to start his own personal developmental school.
But Tom, originally from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, appeared on the Channel 4 show Mr Drew’s School For Boys in 2014 when he was 11 years old. His mum had him put on the programme after he was expelled just weeks before finishing primary school for branding a headteacher a “bald idiot k******d”.
The young man now admits this behaviour was “awful” and uses it to encourage his clients to take the right path when faced with adversity. His school, Generation I, has more than 240 clients worldwide, and makes £30,000 every month.
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Reflecting today on his challenges, Tom said: “I got into a lot of trouble. I was always fighting and I didn’t know how to control my emotions. The death of my dad made things a lot worse and I was pushing everyone around me to their limits.
“The show labelled me ‘Britain’s naughtiest kid’ and it was hard to escape that. But after two jail sentences I knew I couldn’t keep living this way.
“I had to make a change and found comfort in reading about wellness and the mind. It inspired me to help others and for those not to make the same mistakes I did.”
But now Tom, whose dad Lou passed away from alcoholism aged 56, helps people to be “the best version of themselves” with what he describes as “a fulfilling job”. The young man continued: “Now I’m an entrepreneur shaping lives for the better, kind of like a therapist.
“Looking back at my younger self, I agree that my behaviour was awful. But I also see a boy who needed help and guidance. You are not defined by your past and I’m living proof that you can always turn a new leaf. Never give up.”
During his time on Mr Drew’s School For Boys, Tom was seen fighting with peers, climbing out of windows and challenging teachers with difficult behaviour. Soon after the show, Tom started secondary school where he was expelled for a second time just after three months. He transitioned to a special school called Archers Brook, in Ellesmere Port, where he remained and passed all of GCSEs.
