Ben Machell’s The Unusual Suspect details the remarkable story of socially isolated British college student Stephen Jackley who started robbing banks as the 2007 financial crisis unfolded, becoming a bank robber, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Motivated by a belief that global capitalism was ruining lives and driving the planet towards ecological disaster, he dreamed of changing the world for the better through his crimes.
The police, despite their concerted efforts, had no idea what was going on or who was responsible. That is, until Jackley’s ambition got the better of him.
Eventually agreeing to return to his native Britain after an arrest on American soil, Jackley wrote of his fears for the world, humanity “standing on the brink of massive change,” detailing his deeply revealing, morally complex motivations for the robberies. It was only later that psychiatric evaluation revealed that, unbeknownst to everybody, Stephen had been living with undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder.
