After serving four years in the Royal Horse Guards, Mackeson began working in the City of London.
[2] Since he "did not want to end up under Blackfriars Bridge,"[2] when the "aggravation"[2] of running a "mobbed up" bank became too much for him, Mackeson relocated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which was then under the control of a white-minority government.
In order to "curry favor with Mrs.Thatcher", the Rhodesian authorities arrested him and imprisoned him in the Khami prison camp.
[3] When he was finally transported back to the UK, the judge presiding over the case ruled that it was an illegal extradition—a kidnapping, in essence—and had him freed.
He also writes for the Racing Post and runs a mobile bookshop and art gallery which operates on British racecourses.