Being on the autistic spectrum made me do stupid things like importing drugs

EARLIER this month, Dan Greenwood climbed into the ring at Swindon Fight Club for a milestone boxing match.

It was the culmination of three months’ hard training for a young man who is on the autism spectrum and whose drug habit had resulted in him living on the streets and being repeatedly sectioned due to chemical-induced psychosis.

“There were more than a thousand boxing fans at the fight at The Meca,” said 31-year-old Dan, who lives in Ferndale.

“I was top of the bill, and there was loads of hype on Facebook.

“I reckon I doubled the crowd. People wanted to see me because I was the underdog and because they knew about my past.

“I’ve made some friends at Swindon Fight Club and I’ve got some respect – they were proud of me, and I was proud of myself.

“Because of being on the autistic spectrum I’ve always been a loner and people thought of me as a weirdo – I don’t like being in groups of people. It made me a big risk-taker, and made me do stupid things like importing drugs.

“But I feel like I have turned a corner now. The fight was a big step, I was really nervous, but I didn’t back out.

“All I want to do now is settle down with a job, a new girlfriend, and have a family.”

Dan said he is focused on moving on from his troubled past.

He spent two periods in prison for importing thousands of pounds of illegal drugs from China believing they were so-called legal highs.

In 2014 he was sentenced to three years, gaining early release after 14 months.

But he was caught importing drugs again and put back behind bars in 2015, where he spent eight months.

Just before his release last summer he suffered a personal tragedy which, he says, he is still trying to cope with.

“Two months before I was released from prison my girlfriend Carina (Matysiak) died. I still don’t know why she died – she was only 35 and it completely knocked me for six.

“She had kept me positive and I was looking forward to coming out of prison and being with her,” he said.

“Before I met Carina I was in a permanent drug-induced psychotic haze. I was living on the streets in a tent and I was sectioned four times.

“The drugs made me act really weird and one time I was on the top of a tall building in Swindon threatening to jump off – in fact I nearly fell off. I thought agents from MI5 were chasing me.

“I was buying the drugs from China and they were stronger than crystal meth. I was in a really bad place, and I wanted to kill myself. I was selling the drugs too.

“I stopped the drugs when I met Carina, apart from the odd relapse - which made us argue.”

Dan went through childhood not knowing he was on the autistic spectrum. He was diagnosed at the age of 22.

Drugs brought his life crashing down.

He said: “When I ended up in prison in 2012 I lost everything – I’d had a nice flat and car, plenty of money and a girlfriend.”

Determined to sort his life out once more, Dan grasped the opportunity to learn a trade while in prison last year, and trained as a bricklayer.

He explained: “It was the first course I’ve ever been on, and I did really well. I’m good at bricklaying, they told me that.

“But it’s been really hard to get any regular work. I’ve had about 40 jobs since I came out of prison, usually for no more than a week.

“They just don’t seem to want me and they don’t give any reason; it’s really hard to take because I came out of prison with the drive to be a bricklayer.

“I just get a bit of work here and there, and I can’t go on like that because it’s messing up my benefits having to sign on and off. I’ve got housing benefit and I got myself a flat. I don’t want to be back on the streets or I’ll be doing drugs again.

“I’ve been told I need five years’ experience to get a permanent job, but how am I going to do that if they won’t give me a chance?

“I am gutted that nothing has come out of my training as a bricklayer. Some days I just lie in bed and do nothing.”

But a chance meeting with boxer Craig Leadbeater did give Dan something to aim for.

“I got in the boxing ring with him to spar. Of course he took me out easy, but he said he respected me for doing it and did I want a fight at Swindon Fight Club,” said Dan. “So I took on Darren Jones, who has 59 fights under his belt.

“I trained really hard four or five times a week for three months. I focused on the fight and didn’t do drugs.

“I wanted to be in the best shape I could be in, not on the comedown from drugs because it makes you feel really weak.

“I ate healthy food and I haven’t drunk and I don’t smoke, though after the fight I did have a kebab!

“I had to put on the best show I could and I did it for myself and everyone who has supported me.

“We were the last fight of the night, and the main event. It was a massive confidence boost for me and the crowd wanted to see the bad guy do good.

“They were all cheering me on and I had thousands of followers on Facebook too.

“It was three rounds and I went to the end of round two, and I gave it all I had. I was on the ropes a couple of times and in the end I took a hard hook to the head and my legs gave in. I didn’t have another round in me, so I had to throw in the towel for my own safety.”

But Dan says he is not giving up and the promoters have offered him another fight.

“I am really determined and I want to win a fight and stay off drugs.

“With the boxing I’ve done something good now, and I think I’ve proved a lot of people wrong. They couldn’t get in the ring and do what I did. I’m now thinking about cage fighting too.”

On the personal front, Dan is still struggling to come to terms with the death of Carina. He only recently found out where she was buried and since the fight he has been to the grave and placed his boxing medal on it.