Former teen prisoner recalls night drug dealer was killed

'I remember hearing the guy screaming every time he was getting the blade put through him.'

DEAN King was only 11 when he started getting in trouble with the police. But the petty stealing and roaming the streets after dark soon escalated into much more serious offences, including his involvement in a murder at age 13. In this chat, Dean shares how his life took such a turn for the worse and he shares his biggest regrets. He has recently published a book on his life titled, King Hit.

Matt Collins: According to your book, your parents were more interested in drinking than being there for you. Would that be a fair thing to say?

Dean King: Yeah, when I was older, I confronted my father on how he parented me. Things like him drinking every day, not having a meal on the table. He just sat there, he never worked, he was never a role model. He used to put me down, call me ugly and say that I would never amount to much.

MC: Tell me about your childhood.

DK: I was a kid that got bored easily. I was looking for excitement all the time. I was a bit of a larrikin and I used to like going out and running amok with my mates. I found some kind of identity through that. Through that structure I learnt how to fight and how to steal cars. It all started out as fun, but I can assure you, it got pretty serious as time went on.

MC: How old were you when you first got picked up by the police?

DK: I would have been 11.

MC: And that was for stealing?

DK: Yeah, I stole a lady's handbag and I jumped a train to Gosford. Then I knocked off a postie's motorbike and took it for a spin.

MC: How did you know how to ride a motorbike at 11?

DK: I really didn't. I just jumped on and did my best.

MC: How old were you when drugs came on the scene?

DK: I was probably about 13. I was smoking a lot of dope and shooting acid.

MC: Your drug use became the catalyst for a significant moment in your life. You were only 13 when you were involved in a drug deal that went horribly wrong.

DK: Yeah, we decided to go and knock off some marijuana plants in a guy's backyard as we used to do. The guy came out and he was armed and the guy I was with, he was armed also.

MC: When you say 'armed', what did they have?

DK: Well the guy that came out of the house had a bat and an iron bar, one in each hand. The guy I was with had a knife as big as Daniel Boon's, which he used to cut the plants. I basically run for the other fence when the guy came out. He got me over the back of the skull and I was knocked out. When I woke up a few minutes later, I saw the other two were having a massive fight in the back yard. I remember hearing the guy screaming every time he was getting the blade put through him.

MC: Do you have any regrets from that night?

DK: I don't have any regrets. Everything that has happened to me, including that night, has happened for a purpose.

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