More hilarious tales of brief encounters

Sheffield born, and it shows through the man's sense of humour, Stephen D Smith has had his typewriter out again.

His latest work, Junkies, Judges & Jail – which follows on from the hilarious 40,000 bestseller Boozer, Ballcocks and Bail – hits the bookshops next Tuesday.

And rest assured it's another rib-tickler as Stephen shares more tales of the day- to-day life of a criminal lawyer.

The book finds him in 1983 as clients and associates of Rotherham-based Wilford Smith Solicitors continue to produce equal measures of tragedy and farce.

From career criminal Jack Heptonstall and his vast brood to manic insurance broker Sean Page, they're all bent on keeping Steve's life interesting.

Among the tales he tells in Junkies is one about the accidental theft of a boa constrictor, along with 20,000 cigarettes and a Ford Transit, and others involving Fifi DuPont, Suki Deville and other exotically named ladies of the night.

Muliti-talented Steve, who also works as a professional after-dinner speaker, holds the reader with a rich mixture of comedy and heart-rending recollections.

So what made Steve the way he is today?

Daft as it sounds he reckons he became a solicitor somewhat by default:

"I remember my first job was to blow up a rugby ball for the senior partner's son and my second to collect sandwiches and cakes for the typing pool."

From that modest start in 1965, Steve went on to eventually qualify as solicitor some 14 years later.

Then two years on he set up his own practice.

"I set up the firm with my mate Steve Wilford, he the stable one, after toiling as an office boy and progressing to the dizzy heights of legal executive, then taking night classes, getting a law degree and eventually becoming a lawyer."

Just the job to gather a tale or two.

But the art comes in the telling – and that is where Steve excels, despite his modest self-assessment.

"If you've read my first book Boozers, Ballcocks & Bail, you'll know that I'm not a writer by training – five bottom-grade O-levels were the height of my school attainments. But I do like telling stories, and I've come across a lot in my work."

Steve, 60, lives in Rotherham.

He has a wife and daughter, is an active charity worker and president of Rotherham Town Cricket Club.

He was awarded an MBE in 2006 and is a devoted gardener.

Junkies

, Judges & Jail is published by Neville Douglas and priced 9.99.