Ex-prisoner turned paddleboarder David Haze breaks records

A man who served two stints in prison for burglary and handling stolen goods has since gained seven world paddleboarding records.

David Haze, 37, from Bournemouth, was a city trader in London who turned to a life of crime and cocaine after losing his job.

But he later turned his life around by enrolling on a prison reform programme.

He told the BBC: "It is such a powerful tool, adventure... and people really can change their lives."

At one point Mr Haze even went on the run for five weeks to avoid a court date.

But after his release in April 2020 from HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset he worked towards completing a series of adventure challenges, including paddleboarding across all four of the UK's biggest lakes.

"It was like an escape," he said.

"When I get on that water I learn so much about myself.

"I always get these demons that rise up telling me to quit... and I'm now learning to control those demons."

Alongside working as an engineer, Mr Haze is also an ambassador for a prisoner sport rehabilitation charity.

"All I can do now is live a positive life, and all I can do is give something back," he explained.

"The way I look at it, if I was a victim of somebody, I would want that person to change their ways and become an honest, upstanding member of society."

He said his work is about trying to "help young people steer away from that life of crime".

He also teamed up with The Woodland Trust to plant 70 trees in the grounds of HMP Leyhill, Gloucester, to "give hope to others who are in the same position I was".

Mr Haze recently circumnavigated the Isle of Wight, and will attempt his next record, to cross Iceland's longest lake Logurinn in less than six hours, on 14 October.

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