David was born in 1944 in Yorkshire and is married with two children. He worked for five years as a Laboratory Technician at Royal Veterinary College, London, then for sixteen years in the investigation division at H M Customs and Excise. In 2005 he was selected from 46,000 hopefuls and a long list of 26, to become a finalist in the the Richard & Judy/C4 'How to Get Published Competition'.