Found out my childhood friend / First crush is doing life for attempted robbery and it's messed me up.

Exactly this!

OP sounds like a grief vulture and tries to make everything about herself.

I don't entirely agree. That said, OP's clearly dramatizing this situation and isn't in possession of the full facts. She also doesn't understand the concept of sentencing guidelines.

Are you the poster thats making batshit threads today.

Are you the same poster who wrote about basing their style and identity around school ‘tough kids’? If you’re the same poster then you really need help to move on from your teenage years and this hero worship you have of these people you haven’t seen in years.

A man I was friends with at school was put away for drink driving on the motorway, which resulted in the death of an innocent woman. I'm still in touch with a lot of my old school friends, and we were shocked and saddened. He was always a bit of a jack the lad, but didn't have a nasty or unkind bone in his body.
It was a first offence and he ended up serving just over 6 years. Nothing for the loss of a life really. I'd have been furious if it had been my mum he'd killed.

To his credit now though, he's tee-total, and uses his social media to promote the dangers of drink and drugs. I haven't talked to him since he got out, but he seems to have turned his life around.

Reasonable to feel sad that someone you looked up to when you were very young has gone so far wrong in life.

Very unreasonable to be so dramatic about someone who is no longer a part of your life. "Fallen angel" - no.

You are getting an unfair rough ride OP. I completely understand how you feel. I have known a couple of people who fucked up their lives after becoming addicts, one of whom had a messed up childhood with chaotic parents. It sounds like this young man could have gone down a different path in different circumstances.

Acknowledging that does not take anything from his victims and I agree with others he has a lot of criminality behind him, or serious violent offenses, to get that sentence.

I was a drugs worker for around 10 years and agree with you. Encountered some deeply damaged people who also damaged others. One of the strongest arguments for decriminalisation is that it can break the link between using substances and offending.

OP I can understand why you feel sad. All of us have people we knew briefly in our past who made an impact on us, and even if we never saw them again, it’s quite emotional hearing that bad things have happened involving them.

But this man must have done some pretty terrible things to get life in prison, so it’s probably the best place for him. Maybe he’ll get clean while he’s there. Some people do.

I doubt he got a life sentence for attempted robbery.

Well, let’s hope an armed man breaks into your house and robs you. The place where you feel safe and where your life happens. With a bit of luck the fallen angel that robs you, whilst armed in your own home can be saved by you in a Hallmark movie stylee. Maybe you and the armed robber can adopt a three legged dog together and start a bakery in a small seaside town.

I am assuming there was conspiracy involved to get such a long sentence.

I understand feeling sad for him that his life has ended up this way but I can’t help feeling you’re a bit of a vulture.

It sounds as though you’ve not been in contact with him for many years.
You imply he means so much to you but you had no idea he was a struggling drug addict, which doesn’t happen overnight.

It’s very sad for him and his loved ones (and of course his victims) but don’t make this about you.

It’s so sad to hear about things like this. There was a lad who was at school with my partner and he went down a bad route but he came from a nice family and something somewhere went wrong and he had a bad injury, became addicted to prescription painkillers, lost his job, home, family and then he became hooked on other stronger stuff and he’s in a real mess now.

Given your description, I don’t think he was very safe at all. I’m sorry that your early years were so awful that he seemed a safe person.

There is ‘rough around the edges’ and ‘total career criminal’. And ‘angel’? Either you are on a wind up or you probably need therapy.

Yes imagine he had an extensive criminal record or there was a weapon involved.

A fall from grace? An angel who wanted to rebel?
calling him a fallen angel or fallen hero just romanticises the story - perhaps it would be more appropriate to empathise with the victims?

What is a 15 year old boy doing hanging around 11 year olds anyway tbh

He was naughty, always misbehaving and we were forever being separated as we'd be up to no good but never anything malicious, just mischief.

Almost like a child's assessment of "mischief" isn't reliable and if poor childhood behaviours are the very beginning of setting off down a particular trajectory that may continue if left unchecked.

Life for attempted robbery? There must be more to it as you don’t get life for killing someone sometimes.

Maybe life dealt him some very difficult and uncomfortable lessons, maybe he became bitter and angry. Try to handle this objectively as if someone you didn’t know. He is serving time as has caused someone / some people a heck of a lot of turmoil and lifelong anguish.

Are you in contact with anyone who can shed more light on this, only do this if you think it will help.

Remember life can be difficult for some in many different ways, people change for the bad as well as the good. People don’t stay the same. If this feeling persists consider helping out with younger people or in Young Offender Prisons etc? Maybe you might be able to help others too.

There will be many, many more offences.
If the judge has used the maximum sentence of life imprisonment they wouldn't have reached that lightly. Someone would definitely not get a sentence like that for burglary of someone's home (robbery is a different & aggravated offence)
Even people with extensive history of aggravated offences & conspiracy to rob are not getting anywhere near life imprisonment.

A life sentence is possible if the perpetrator has a long criminal history, and if he used a weapon or bladed article to threaten his victims.

Judges have wide powers within the sentencing guidelines and a life sentence is certainly possible in this situation.

I was going to say a version of this. You knew a very different person back then and he went on to have a fairly different future to how you knew him.

I think I’m wondering why are you chasing the past rather than creating a present where you don’t feel you need to do that. Is there something currently going on in your life that you were trying to address going back to this person. You deserve a very nice peaceful life after the very difficult start you had and you deserve the types of people in your life who will bring that to you. Apparently he would have brought chaos into your life if he had been a permanent fixture.

He was. When they were both kids, he stood up for the smaller kids like her, against the bullies.

I agree.

Next the OP will call him 'just misunderstood'.
Try thinking about his victims instead of wallowing in self pity.