It has been seven years since the gates of Westgate Correctional Facility closed behind Charles Richardson Jr., locking him away from the rest of the world.

But instead of using the time to fester away in bitterness and resentment, Mr. Richardson has managed to accomplish a feat that would be considered difficult even in the best of environments.

Mr. Richardson, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence for use and possession of a gun during a shootout at the Spinning Wheel night club in 1994, has recently obtained his law degree with honours from the University of London.

He is one of the few success stories that have come out of the Westgate era.

And now, as the 30-year-old tells it, he is at a different place in his life, before his freedoms and liberties were taken away from him.

"The lifestyle I was leading - ending up in prison was probably inevitable," he said in a stern voice. "I can't see that things would have turned out any different, considering the existential philosophy that I had at the time. It was only a matter of time before I committed an offence that would warrant my incarceration."

But Mr. Richardson said he does not make any excuses for the mistakes and reckless activity that landed him in jail.

Yet more importantly, he said he has used the time to reform, rehabilitate and reinvent himself and accept the consequences of his violent actions those many years ago.

"I deserve to be here," he said. "It was of my own stupidity that got me in here. I earned the right to be here. Nothing that I had done prior to going to prison made me happy.

"I was living in a false consciousness. When I look back on those particular days, so much was blurry, but the irony of it now is that there is so much clarity."

Mr. Richardson said his metamorphosis came after much soul searching, where he said he could either give up and become another statistic or make the best use of his 23 hours a day in lock down.

So, five years ago, with the help of some dedicated legal professionals, he ventured out to become a lawyer.

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