Hartlepool filmmaker behind new Amazon Prime documentary on Teesside hardman Lee Duffy

Paul Suggitt, who is best known for his incredible charity challenges, has directed Lee Duffy: Too Far Too Soon which charts the life and death of the former Middlesbrough underworld figure.

It is due to be released on streaming service Amazon Prime on November 27 and also on DVD.

Duffy, an ex boxer and bouncer who became synonymous with violence and drugs, died in 1991 aged just 26 after being stabbed in a street fight.

Paul along with friend Dan Walker of Fat Cat Productions spent months interviewing people who knew Duffy best including police officers, friends and associates.

Paul said: “Lee Duffy was notorious. Even now, 29 years after his death there is still a massive fascination in him.

"When he died it was felt in Hartlepool. He is firmly embedded in Teesside folklore.”

Fat Cat Productions which previously recorded Paul’s charity challenges, including him walking almost 200 miles barefoot last summer, came up with the idea for the new documentary looking at Duffy's life from cradle to the grave.

Paul, 51, of Deer Park, added: “I wanted to approach it with a balanced view. We spoke to an ex detective sergeant, associates and victims of Lee and got a recording of a guy in prison.

"It’s amazing that one guy could provoke such a mixed reaction from people. It has been absolutely fascinating to work on.”

The name of the documentary is a reference to a lyric from Duffy's favourite song The Whole of the Moon by The Waterboys.

He was described as a ‘one man crime wave’. Following his release from prison in May 1990 up to the time of his death 16 months later police received 96 separate complaints.

Paul worked closely with Middlebrough true crime author Jamie Boyle who has written two books on Duffy and also appears in the documentary.

Jamie said: “He was just this wild, crazy upstart from South Bank and couldn’t be tamed. The guy really was a one-off.

"There are a lot of firsts in the documentary, people who have never spoken before.

"No stone has been left unturned.”

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