Britain's Hardest Prisoner

Sykes was classed as one of the most difficult prisoners in the UK throughout the 1970s and 1980s and by 1990, had spent 21 out of 26 years in 18 prisons for many violent acts against prison officers and police officers. He committed violent offences all over the North of England and was very well known to locals and the police in Leeds, Liverpool, Blackpool, Hull, and Rotherham, and also known and respected by the hard cases in London, possibly as a result of Sykes having trained alongside and sparred with such notorious criminals as Roy Shaw during his lengthy prison career. Some apparently classed Paul Sykes as one of the hardest men in Great Britain during the 1980s.

Paul Sykes is mentioned in the book, Legends by Charles Bronson, an A to Z guide of the men Bronson had regarded to be the toughest in Britain. Referring to him as 'Sykesy', Bronson describes him as "a legend, born and bred" and writes: "I first met Sykes in Liverpool in the early 70s and at that time he was probably the fittest con in Britain. A hard man from Yorkshire, a fighting man in every sense. A lot of people never liked him, perhaps they even feared him but I respected the man for what he stood for". Bronson then goes on to relate an incident said to have taken place in HMP Liverpool, when Sykes allegedly killed the prison's cat and fashioned it into a "Davey Crocket" hat.

While in prison, Sykes earned a BA in Physical Sciences from Open University and wrote a memoir, Sweet Agony. This book is now a rare title and, in good condition, commands a high price amongst collectors.