Simon Pinchbeck – From Flying Squad to Finding Freedom
Based in Essex
Simon Pinchbeck delivers a testimony that was as raw as it is powerful. His story is not polished religion, but the story of his real life. Full of grit, failure, success, pride, anger, crime, broken relationships and ultimately, restoration.
Simon’s journey is one that resonates particularly with men navigating pressure, identity, success, and purpose.
A Hard Start - The Father Wound
Simon was born in Burton upon Trent, growing up without knowing his biological father. That absence shaped Simon. When he was 4 year old his mother remarried, but there was no warmth in that relationship.
Like many men Simon shares how he carried what he describes as a “cold and hard heart.” He never learned how to express love, only how to perform, compete, and protect.
Simon often highlights a recurring theme he encounters when speaking to men:
- Men who have waited decades to hear, “I’m proud of you.”
- Men who never heard, “I love you.”
- Men still shaped by silence from their earthly father.
Simon’s story connects deeply with audiences because it focuses on healing this generational issue.
Metropolitan Police Years
Inspired by the TV show The Sweeney, Simon joined the Metropolitan Police Service and moved to London believing he’d step straight into the Flying Squad. Instead, he walked the beat in Holloway, North London.
Later he went on to serve with the Territorial Support Group, this was the closest equivalent at the time to a riot unit. Simon spent years policing football matches, including a decade at Arsenal’s former stadium, Highbury Stadium.
Back then, football policing was raw and physical. There were no body cameras, no CCTV saturation, and confrontations with hooligan firms were frequent and intense.
One match in May 1982 Arsenal vs West Ham, changed him. Caught alone in violent disorder, he experienced the first crack in his sense of invincibility. For the first time, he felt vulnerable. That moment stayed with him.
Success on the Outside, Emptiness Within
Simon married Linda and had two sons. But by his own admission, he did not understand love. Work came first. Image came first. Adrenaline came first.
Eventually, he left the police force following a serious assault charge from a nightclub altercation. In which he was acquitted due to post-traumatic stress connected to his policing experiences. But acquittal didn’t mean peace.
He describes carrying what he later understood as a “God-shaped hole.” He tried to fill it with money, status, cars, nightlife, steroids, risk and criminal enterprises.
He became involved with organised crime contacts, initially through connections at the gym. What started as low-level debt collection escalated into more serious operations.
Money flowed and disappeared just as quickly. Then a failed scheme cost him heavily, betrayal followed and then anger consumed him.
As he puts it:
“If you put money first, the more you get, the more you want. The more you get, the more you worry. The more you get, the more you lose.”
Simon had reached a point where he admits he was one step away from prison or worse.
The Turning Point
In a gym in North London, Simon saw something he couldn’t ignore.
One of the very men he had known as violent and dangerous, a man who had once slashed someone’s face in a pub – Now carried a visible peace. He was a completely different man from the man Simon had seen before.
The change? That man had become a Christian.
Curious and desperate, Simon began asking questions. The man challenged him directly:
“Stop blaming everyone else. Look at yourself.”
Soon after, in 2002, Simon walked into Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) church in London.
There he met Nicky Gumbel, who explained what it meant to turn away from his old life and accept forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Simon prayed a simple prayer of repentance that day.
“It as the most powerful moment of my life.”
Restoration and Reconciliation
Faith did not instantly erase the consequences of life, but it began rebuilding what had been broken. Simon reconciled with his wife, and in 2010 they renewed their wedding vows. He built relationships with his two sons.
Simon found forgiveness, he received it and gave it.
He later completed the Alpha Course and speaks often about discovering not religion or tradition, but forgiveness and relationship.
The man who once thrived on aggression now speaks about grace.
The man who once chased status now speaks about identity.
The man who once filled stadium terraces with force now fills rooms with hope.
A Powerful Speaker
Simon’s now shares his story and connects with the listeners at FGB dinners, Men’s groups, Corporate leadership audiences, sports communities and former service personnel. With humour, authentic vulnerability he shares his real-life experiences of policing and the criminal underworld. Helping those wrestling with confusion, identity, anger and difficulties with relationships. With a clear and compelling faith journey, as well as practical reflections on fatherhood and generational change
His testimony is not abstract theology it’s lived transformation.
Real Life. Real Consequences. Real Change.
Simon often says:
“This isn’t my story. It’s Jesus’ story.”
Whether exploring faith, wrestling with purpose, or engaging with men at a deep level. Simon delivers a message that is honest, confronting, and hopeful.
