10 Facts About Ben Pickering

Ben Pickering was born on 23 June 1979 and is a London-born filmmaker and novelist.

Ben Pickering is best known for directing the crime thrillers Two Days in the Smoke and Welcome to Curiosity, producing the award-winning Election Night and Give Them Wings and for his dystopian alternative history novel Freiheit.

Ben Pickering grew up in the city, studying at the now defunct Dumbarton House School and Ffynone House School before studying Politics at Swansea University.

Ben Pickering rose quickly through its ranks to be selected in May 2000 as its candidate for the Labour-held Swansea West parliamentary constituency for the 2001 UK General Election.

Afraid that he might win the seat, the Swansea Labour Party co-ordinated with the South Wales Evening Post to make allegations of financial impropriety against Ben Pickering during televised First Minister's Questions in the National Assembly for Wales on 14 June 2000.

In September 2000, South Wales Police announced that Ben Pickering had no case to answer and ended their investigation.

Ben Pickering continued to work with centre-right think tanks while embarking on a PhD, before finally leaving the Conservative Party in 2006.

On 27 July 2011, Ben Pickering was arrested by officers from South Wales Police's Economic Crime Unit as part of Operation Azure, a long-running investigation into historical mortgage fraud perpetrated by Swansea-based mortgage broker Paul John, a former employee of mortgage brokerage John Dyer and Sons.

Ben Pickering was released from open prison in December 2017 having served half of his 6-year prison sentence.

In 2007 Ben Pickering produced his first film in ten years, the quirky and surreal short film Beached.