Sid Owen started taking part in robberies when he was just four years old.
Sid Owen
The 49-year-old actor - who is best known for playing Ricky Butcher in BBC soap 'EastEnders' - had a tough childhood in London due to his violent, bank robber father but revealed he and his brothers followed in their dad's footsteps by taking part in burglaries at a very young age.
In an extract from his new book 'From Rags To Ricky' - serialised in The Sun newspaper - Sid wrote: "My brothers got me involved in burglaries when I was barely out of nappies. I was four years old, I think, the very first time — maybe five.
"I would climb up on roofs to get into shops through the skylights and then open the doors. The skylights were so small that as Darren and then Scott grew bigger, I was the only one who could fit.
"I wasn’t aware what I was doing. I was too young. I just thought it was fun. They called me Spider-Man because I was so good at climbing walls.
"Christmas time was pretty mental, looking back. We all basically went out on the rob for presents.
"Christmas Day was spent comparing all the things we’d nicked for each other, sitting round the nicked Christmas tree, Mum popping in and out of the tiny kitchen, checking on the turkey she’d got from the market. Which she also nicked."
Sid also revealed his father was violent and used to beat up their mother, along with him and his brothers.
He said: "My mum Joan found out too late that my dad had two sides, and the bad side was evil — especially on the drink.
"We’d hear him coming in from the pub and everything would feel ominous while we waited to see who he’d pick on. He used to beat Mum up — then he started on us."
And there was further tragedy in store for Sid, when his beloved mother died of cervical cancer just before his eighth birthday.
He wrote: "Mum had cervical cancer. She was never one for going to the doctor. I don’t know how long she had been poorly or whether anything could have been done if she had been diagnosed earlier, but I think by the time they found out she was in a bad state.
"I vividly remember Mum in bed when we’d just been told that she was going to die and suddenly realising how ill she looked.
"Before that moment, I’d always hoped she would get better. I got very upset at first. They say I cried myself to sleep every night."
Tagged in Sid Owen