Lewis Hawkins used to protect the stars. Now he's aiming to be a star. But the well-built ex-soldier won't need a minder

MAN mountain Lewis Hawkins was cut out to be a bodyguard. Standing six-feet-three and weighing 17 stone, he was a former soldier who played trumpet for the Queen and endured a particularly gruesome initiation ceremony on joining the Strathclyde Gunners.

"The other guys pinned me down, stuck a plastic bag over my head and smeared glue on my privates. I struggled a bit, but otherwise took it like a man."

But 10 years of Army life were enough - "I could shoot down aeroplanes, but that didn't seem like a lot of use to me" - and so he turned to the personal protection business.

Clients included the Sultan of Brunei's brother and Arab sheikhs and he hung out with controversial boxing promoter Don King and cocky superstar "Prince" Naseem Hamed. He was still living in Bournemouth, but travelling all across the globe.

"I was living like a king, all expenses paid. I was jetting off across the world at the drop of a hat. There's no such thing as a schedule. I'd work 20 hours a day, sometimes for 10 weeks solid."

He knew that often he was in tow just as some sort of status symbol, but he took the opportunity to network and pick up freelance work, including a spell at the now-defunct Venue in Poole.

Then, two years ago, came the incident that changed his life. Just months after taking his advanced motorcycle riding exam, he struggled through 40mph crosswinds on a dangerous journey - "I really feared for my life" - from London to Bournemouth.

He arrived home safely, but it was on the short trip to his mother's house in Wallisdown that he was involved in a collision with a car. His left leg was shattered - "it was literally wrapped around the bike" - and there was a blood clot on his brain.

He lost his co-ordination and was housebound and disillusioned for almost six months. He spent a further 10 months on crutches. His damaged leg was one-and-a-half inches shorter than the other.

Lewis did the security bit at Royal Ascot, but the pain in his leg was too much, so he decided to change direction.

"Before the accident I'd never considered moving into music. Although I'd always loved new wave and ska, especially Madness and The Specials, I didn't know if I could sing. So I put together a tape and waited to see what would happen."

What happened was he went down a storm at his first gig at the King's Arms in Wallisdown last November. Now, at 32, his punk karaoke routine is a popular fixture on the local live scene and he even reached the final stages of this year's Daily Echo Star Trail contest.

"It was a great experience. Next year I'm going to take home the medal. I haven't ruled out bodyguard work - I like to have something to fall back on, and I'm having operations to sort out my leg. But I'm really into the singing thing now. You just never know what lies around the corner."