Sky's the limit for ex-bad lad
A TV star from Willenhall who has the crimes of assaulting a police officer and fraud on his list of shame is trying to shed his bad lad tag to raise money for charity.
Mark Grimes, of Noose Crescent, was one of a handful of yobs chosen to go through a recreation of 1950s national service for TV show Bad Lad's Army.
But Mark, aged 26, is set to join his fellow stars as they hurtle themselves through the air for a charity parachute jump - all in aid of a Walsall cancer charity.
Mark said this was a chance for him, and his three friends from the show who he keeps in touch with, to put something back into the community.
He said: "We have taken so much from society so to give something back is good for us."
The father-of-one, with a love of cruel practical jokes, beat hundreds to appear with 29 others on the programme.
He was forced to endure punishing runs carrying bags of sand weighing 30lbs but was stopped from hurling himself out of an aeroplane thousands of feet in the air after suffering from cracked ribs on the show.
And though he had prepared himself for the jump, he is now feeling a little jittery ahead of the event at Old Buckingham Airfield, in Norfolk, on October 25.
He said: "I am a bit nervous. I had hoped to do it on the show and I was psyched up for it, but now it's getting close I am a little scared. I'm sure people who saw the show might be surprised to hear that."
Grimes, who also has convictions for fraud as well as handling and receiving stolen goods, described his mock kidnapping as the worst ordeal on the programme. He was dragged from his bed, thrown into the back of a van and interrogated for several hours.
He is now also hoping to use his reformed ways to help youngsters who may be having trouble. "I am hoping to go to college to become a youth worker. I used to get in trouble myself. I think I could help and make a difference to their lives."
He will be joined by Corporal "Nooky" Richard Nauyokas. Sponsorship forms are available in reception from Croft Street Medical Centre, in Gomer Street.
Popular stories:
Video - Dave Hill speaks: part 1
Andy Tofts blog
Find yourself an amazing bargain with StarBidz
Ban makes walkers barking mad
Teacher is jailed for tax swindle
