Vernon Vanriel: Play portraying boxer's life takes to the stage

A play portraying the highs and lows in the life of the boxer Vernon Vanriel is to be staged in north London.

On The Ropes, at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, is set in a boxing ring and features key moments in Vernon’s story.

He came to Britain aged six with his family as part of the Windrush generation and rose to prominence in the 1970s as a flamboyant light-middleweight.

But having lived in north London for more than four decades, Vernon eventually found himself trapped in Jamaica for many years; homeless and penniless.