A former policeman who was jailed for conspiring to pervert the course of justice has cleaned up his act through starting his own successful company.  

After a stretch in prison and a period spent in solitary confinement for his own protection, which he described as “horrendous” given his status as a gay ex-police officer, Bushey resident Aaron Evans-Keady sought help from the Prince’s Trust to put his past behind him and kick-start his own business.

The 30-year-old created the Candyman Cleaning Company as a one man venture from the boot of his car just three and a half years ago. It has since developed into a successful business consisting of three work vans and a staff of ten.

On the back of this success, an off-shoot domestic-only cleaning company called Homemaid by Candyman has been registered and is due to start trading on April 1.

As well as pursuing his own entrepreneurial success, the former police officer is helping other young people by passing on his experience as a volunteer mentor, and was also a finalist at the trust’s Enterprise Awards.

“I will hold my hands up and say I am glad it happened. If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be where I am right now,” he said.  

On foot patrol in Camden in 2012, Mr Evans-Keady stopped and searched two people suspected of being involved in drug-related activity.

He found the suspected dealer to be clean while the woman had three wraps of cocaine in her possession.

He took her to a nearby police station and after carrying out a background check he found she had no criminal history.

The woman - an American solicitor who was working in the UK on a sponsorship visa - faced losing her job and being deported with a drugs charge hanging over her, a punishment which Mr Evans-Keady said “seemed far too harsh for what she had done”.

He and a detention officer decided to get her off the hook by falsifying the drugs test but were caught after his accomplice let slip to a colleague.

Mr Evans-Keady was handed a two-year sentence in 2013 after admitting to conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

His sentence was halved on appeal by judges who said the original term was "too long" in all the circumstances.

During his time behind bars he formed the idea for the business and, just days after leaving prison, had enrolled onto a Prince’s Trust business course, beginning to trade later the next month.  

“From there it has been an insane three and a half years,” he said.

“I was miserable in the police. It took losing it to realise how unhappy I had been. It destroyed my life at the time but I am happier now then I have been in a long time.”