On 20 March 1973, aged 15, he was standing with a friend on the corner of Merrion Street and Grosvenor Road, West Belfast, when a car pulled up beside them and one of the occupants asked them for directions.
He was arrested, aged 16, by the British Army and spent five months on remand in Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast.
He served nine months in Cage 4 of Long Kesh Detention Centre in Northern Ireland, until 12 November 1975.
[6][7] Among other things, this change in policy meant convicted paramilitaries could no longer wear their own clothes.
He refused to wear the uniform, declaring himself a political prisoner and not a criminal, beginning the blanket protest.