From film star to convict: The poster boy of Starmer’s prisoner release plan

When unknown 16-year-old actor Jason Hoganson landed his big break with the film Empire State he could be forgiven for thinking his next step would be Hollywood.

Cast as a “Geordie drifter”, the Newcastle native found himself sharing the credits with Hollywood heavyweight Martin Landau and legendary Irish actor Ray McAnally.

Unfortunately, the 1987 gangsters and geezers film was to prove the pride before the fall, because Hoganson would instead become a convicted criminal.

Now Hoganson has become the unwitting poster boy for the Labour government’s controversial early prisoner release scheme, which caused a political storm even before it kicked in.

In July the new Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that 5,500 prisoners would be released in September and October to tackle prison overcrowding.

Known as SDS40, under which criminals will serve 40 per cent of their sentence rather than half, the scheme started earlier this month for those serving less than five years and will continue next month for those serving five years or more.

Serious and repeat offenders were among the first raft of 1,700 prisoners released from September 10, with Labour blaming previous Tory governments for the chaos.

But by far the most striking figure pictured emerging that day was Hoganson, who gave photographers a brazen thumb’s up as he emerged from Durham Prison.

Only later, however, did it emerge that the 53-year-old had once been a different kind of poster boy altogether.

The clear complexion, ruffled hair, and rugged good looks in Empire State had been replaced by a tattooed sunken face and shaven scalp framing a pugnacious glare that betrays lifelong troubles.

Born in Newcastle in 1970, Hoganson was brought up with his parents, sister and two brothers, in Elswick, one of the most deprived areas in the city.

Despite being raised in an aspirational household, Hoganson, unlike his siblings, fell into the wrong crowd from an early age and began the slow spiral into anti-social behaviour.

“I was put into care when I was 13 because of my behaviour,” said Hoganson in an interview. “I was just part of the gang in Elswick and used to follow the crowd, and that’s how I got into trouble.”

Revolving door of hostels and homelessness

But it was acting that offered Hoganson the most likely escape route when the producers of Empire State contacted his drama teacher, looking for local talent.

Hoganson, who had always had a natural affinity for acting at Newcastle’s Redewood school, found himself up against more than 100 teenagers before being offered the part.

At the time, Hoganson said: “I’m very pleased with the film. It’s a low-budget picture, really down to earth and true to life. I know acting is a difficult profession to break into but acting and writing are what I have always wanted to do.”

So difficult that the roles dried up, and his career, like the film, disappeared without trace. Hoganson was sucked back into the life of a criminal in Newcastle.

His own defence lawyer, Ian Crook, when Hoganson admitted charges of assault by beating and breach of a restraining order in August this year, said Hoganson struggled in the spotlight and that he “turned to drink and drugs and that led to a downward spiral”.

Hoganson’s life was chaotic and his mental health suffered as a consequence. He also began to lose contact with his five children, whom he fathered with three different women.

“The children were only young, and I decided it was best for them that I didn’t see them anymore,” he explained.

In 2002 Hoganson entered into a revolving door of hostels and homelessness, with an unwanted record of disruption and eviction.

Mr Crook told the court in August that Hoganson, who had been diagnosed with mental health problems, had still recently been a mentor for others while in prison on remand.

Struggling with frequent bouts of homelessness, in 2012, he said: “I could have gone back and lived with my mam, but she is on her own and she’s got a beautiful house. I’m like the black sheep.

“My mam has done everything for me, she’s a really lovely woman, but my family have had enough and I don’t blame them. I can’t keep putting them through this.”

‘Everywhere I go just pushes me away’

At that time, Hoganson admitted that he was sleeping rough at night, and during the day drifting between city centre cafes trying to keep warm.

“It’s freezing out there and it’s only going to get worse,” he continued, “But everywhere I go just pushes me away and says they can’t help me.

“All I need is my own little place. That would mean that if any of my children wanted to come and see me in later life, they could. I have missed so much of their lives and no amount of money can get that back.”

At the time of his release from Durham Prison, he was serving an 18-month sentence for assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

And despite his plea to be reunited with his children, Hoganson is understood to have scant contact with them.

One of those children, Charlotte Hoganson, now 28, told The Telegraph: “We don’t have anything to do with him. He is nothing to do with us.”

She said that he had played “no part” in her childhood and she had “no idea” what he was up to now.

As for Keir Starmer’s controversial early release programme, Hoganson raises questions about whether grateful former prisoners will choose a more enlightened path.

North Tyneside Magistrates Court heard on September 12 that a day after his release the former actor allegedly slapped his ex-girlfriend after turning up at her home.

He is also accused of breaching his restraining order against the victim. Hoganson was re-arrested and is currently back in jail.

A CPS spokesman confirmed that Hoganson had been charged with assault and twice breaching a restraining order and had subsequently been denied bail.

Hoganson is scheduled to face trial on October 30 at South Tyneside Magistrates Court. He has admitted one count of breaching the order but pleaded not guilty to the other count and denies assault.

And should Hoganson be convicted, once again, it is tempting to ask whether he would be eligible for any further early release programmes the Government may unveil in the coming months.