Billy Moore: Boxer, Prison Survivor, Film Subject – Full Story

The film opens with a man punching his way out of a nightmare, but the story behind A Prayer Before Dawn started years earlier and miles away, in Liverpool. Billy Moore was a fighter long before he entered a Bangkok prison, and his journey from a Thai jail cell to a Cannes premiere is one of the strangest comeback stories of the past decade.

Born: 1973, Liverpool, England · Film based on his life: A Prayer Before Dawn (2017) · Book published: A Prayer Before Dawn (2014) · Age (2024): 51

Key facts: Billy Moore at a glance

Seven facts, one pattern: every label Moore carries — boxer, prisoner, author, restaurateur — came from a reset that forced him to start over.

The point: everything Moore is known for now traces back to a boxing career that almost didn’t survive his own twenties.

Was Billy Moore a good boxer?

Short answer: he was a genuine fighter, but not a headline-level professional. Moore boxed in Liverpool’s amateur and small-hall scene before addiction interrupted everything, and later fought Muay Thai in Thailand — including, by his own account, inside prison. The film treats his fighting as the thing that kept him alive; the paper record is harder to pin down.

Billy Moore’s boxing record

• Moore competed in Liverpool before his prison years, but the depth of his amateur record is hard to verify because multiple fighters share the name.
• BoxRec’s “Billy Moore” entry is a historical fighter whose record does not match the prison boxer’s story — a mix-up that has muddied every attempt to total his wins and losses.
• The precise number of his professional wins and losses is not reliably documented anywhere public.

The confusion matters because his credibility as a “real” boxer drives the film’s whole premise. He was good enough to fight, and later good enough to survive prison fights — but the film never claims he was a champion, and neither does his own account.

Notable fights and Paul Carragher

• Paul Carragher’s name surfaces in connection with Moore’s Liverpool fighting years, but no authoritative record cleanly confirms the bout.
• Most accounts agree it was addiction, not defeat, that ended his boxing career in Liverpool.
• By his own account, he also trained in Muay Thai and stepped into the local fighting circuit after arriving in Thailand.

What the ring gave Moore was transferable: footwork, a chin, and the habit of not quitting. Those skills mattered more inside Klong Prem than they ever did in a Liverpool hall.

Muay Thai and the transition to Thailand

• Thailand was supposed to be the escape route — a clean break from the scene that had pulled him under in Liverpool.
• Once there, he trained Muay Thai and, by his own account, entered the local fighting circuit before prison.
• That training is what later qualified him for the prison fight team — the turn that changed everything.

Why was Billy Moore in Thailand?

Like a lot of Liverpool stories, this one starts with an escape plan. Moore told his publisher he moved to Thailand in 2005 for a fresh start, and he initially found sobriety there (Hachette UK). What he also found was a fight scene — and, eventually, trouble.

How he ended up in Thailand

• He arrived in 2005, according to his publisher’s biography, and worked as an English teacher before prison, according to the film-accuracy site History vs Hollywood.
• The plan was to get away from Liverpool’s drug scene; for a stretch, it worked.
• He trained Muay Thai and, by his own account, entered the local fighting circuit.

Drug addiction and arrest in Bangkok

• In 2007, a motorbike accident left him with serious abdominal, rib, and lung injuries; he later said prescription painkillers led to heroin and yaba (a methamphetamine-based pill) addiction (Shortlist).
• He was sentenced in Thailand in late 2007 to three years in prison; sources differ on whether the principal charge was gun possession, handling stolen goods, or both (Shortlist).
• The arrest ended any illusion that Thailand was a fresh start — it became the place where his old life caught up with him.

Life in Klong Prem prison

• He first served time at Chiang Mai Central Prison, then was transferred to Klong Prem in Bangkok (History vs Hollywood).
• He spent about eight months at Chiang Mai before the transfer, according to his first-person account in Shortlist.
• Klong Prem is the prison his memoir and the film made famous; the Apple Books listing describes the book as his account of imprisonment there.

Inside Klong Prem, Moore found the prison Muay Thai team — a structure that, by his own account, gave him a reason to stay clean and a way to matter in a place designed to strip both away.

How true is the film ‘A Prayer before Dawn’?

The film, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, is adapted from Moore’s memoir of the same name (RTÉ). Joe Cole plays Moore (Liverpool Echo). The spine of the story — addiction, prison, fighting — is documented. The question is where the filmmakers compressed time, merged characters, and staged scenes for cinema.

Key facts vs. dramatization

• The film is adapted from Moore’s memoir — the same memoir Apple Books lists as “A Prayer Before Dawn: A Nightmare in Thailand.”
• The movie moves through Moore’s arc quickly: the teaching job, the accident, the spiral, and the arrest are compressed into a short pre-prison sequence.
• Some characters are composites; the film’s own framing is that of a survival story, not a documentary.

Did Billy Moore escape the hospital?

• In the film: Moore makes a run for it during a prison hospital transfer.
• In the real account: the escape attempt is part of Moore’s own story, but the scene as filmed is dramatized — timing, guards, and outcome are staged for tension.
• No independent record confirms every detail of the real attempt; it belongs on the “based on a true story” ledger rather than the “documentary” one.

Accuracy of the Muay Thai scenes

• The fights themselves are the most grounded part: Moore genuinely joined the prison’s Muay Thai team and competed while incarcerated, and his publisher credits the training with helping him stop using drugs (Hachette UK).
• The film’s raw, close-quarters fight style is a cinematic choice, but the setting — organized fights between prison teams — matches what Moore described.

The trade-off: the film had to turn a messy, years-long ordeal into a tight two-hour story. What it kept is the core — a man fighting his way out of addiction and a Thai prison. What it lost is the slow bureaucracy, the dead time, and the small humiliations that shape real prison life.

The implication: viewers who rely only on the film miss the bureaucracy and dead time that shaped the real three-year sentence.

Is there a film about Billy Moore on Netflix?

Yes — and it has been easier to find in some years than others. A Prayer Before Dawn has rotated through Netflix in several regions, including the US and UK, since its release, and it remains available in many digital storefronts.

Where to watch ‘A Prayer Before Dawn’

• The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and reached UK cinemas on 20 July, according to the UK news site iNews.
• Netflix has carried it in many countries; current availability depends on your region and the month you check.
• It is also available to rent or buy through Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and other digital retailers in most markets.

Netflix availability by region

• Netflix availability has varied by country and by year since the film’s release.
• The distribution deals were struck territory by territory, which is why “is it on Netflix?” gets a different answer every few months.

One pattern: when it drops off Netflix, it usually reappears on a rival service or sits on digital rental shelves.

Alternative streaming options

• The film can typically be rented or purchased on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube in most regions.
• Physical and digital listings vary, so a quick search on your local storefront is the most reliable way to see current options.
• The memoir is also available as an ebook and audiobook, which is worth reading alongside the film.

Why this matters: the film is Moore’s calling card with new audiences. Every time it lands on a new platform, a new wave of viewers Googles him — and finds a man who is no longer in prison, but in a restaurant in Liverpool.

Where is Billy Moore today?

The short version: he’s back in Liverpool, and he’s built a second act out of the story that nearly ended him. The longer version involves a restaurant, a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a public role he never planned for.

Current residence and activities

• Moore lives in Liverpool — the city he left in 2005 and returned to after his release.
• He runs “The All or Nothing,” a restaurant in Liverpool that opened in 2023.
• He remains active in addiction-recovery spaces and takes speaking engagements tied to his story.

What happened to Billy Moore recently?

• In 2023, he was involved in a physical altercation at his gym, an incident he later addressed publicly.
• The story briefly returned him to the news cycle, with coverage in the Liverpool press.
• Since then, his YouTube channel and podcast have continued, and the restaurant has remained the anchor of his public identity.

The 2023 incident was a reminder that his past is never far away. What has changed since the prison years is what he does with the attention — instead of hiding, he folds the incidents into the larger narrative of relapse and recovery.

Billy Moore’s restaurant and business ventures

• “The All or Nothing” opened in Liverpool in 2023, according to his own announcements.
• He also runs a YouTube channel and podcast built around crime, addiction, and redemption stories.
• The restaurant gives him a physical base in the city where his story started — a full-circle detail the film never got to.

Billy Moore’s son and family

• Moore is a father, but he has kept the details of his son’s life largely private.
• His relationship status is similarly low-profile; he rarely discusses it in interviews or on his channel.
• Most public attention stays on his work and his recovery message, not his home life.

The implication: Moore has outlived the single chapter that made him famous. The restaurant and the podcast are evidence that the second act is real — and that the story is now something he owns, not something that owns him.

The pattern: every stage of Moore’s current life — the restaurant, the podcast, the speaking — extends from the same discipline that kept him alive inside Klong Prem.

How much is Billy Moore worth today?

There is no verified public net-worth figure for Billy Moore. Anyone quoting an exact dollar amount is estimating; the most common estimates land between $500,000 and $1 million as of 2024.

Income from A Prayer Before Dawn

• Moore has said the film rights brought him a six-figure sum — the single largest payment of his working life.
• The film’s release also revived sales of the book and increased demand for speaking appearances.

Book sales and royalties

• The memoir was first published in 2014 by Maverick House, according to Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ.
• The title remains available as an ebook and audiobook through major retailers.

Current net worth estimate

• Estimates put Moore’s net worth between $500,000 and $1 million as of 2024; the figure is not officially disclosed.
• Income sources include book royalties, film rights, speaking engagements, and the restaurant.
• The restaurant is a live business rather than a passive income stream, so its contribution to the total is not public.

The trade-off: Moore’s net worth is the least interesting number in his life story. The real financial win is that he no longer depends on the prison narrative — he has a business, a platform, and a Liverpool life that pays its own way.

Timeline: from Liverpool to Bangkok and back

Eleven dates, one pattern: Moore’s life has kept resetting through shocks — a move, an accident, a sentence, a premiere.

The pattern: after 2010, every stage of Moore’s life was built on purpose — book, film, platform, restaurant. The fall was chaotic; the rebuild has been steady.

What’s confirmed, what’s still murky

Here is the balance of evidence on Moore’s public record, with sources named where the record is solid and flagged where it is not.

Confirmed facts

• Born in Liverpool in 1973 (Hachette UK)
• Moved to Thailand in 2005 and initially found sobriety (Hachette UK)
• Sentenced to three years in Thailand in late 2007 (Shortlist)
• Repatriated to Wandsworth Prison on 30 March 2010 (Shortlist / History vs Hollywood)
• Joined the prison Muay Thai team, which his publisher says helped him stop using drugs (Hachette UK)
• Memoir published in 2014; film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire with Joe Cole in the lead (RTÉ / Liverpool Echo)

What’s unclear

• The exact charge behind the 2007 sentence: gun possession, handling stolen goods, or both? Sources differ.
• Current net worth: estimates range from $500,000 to $1 million, but nothing is officially disclosed.
• Boxing record: confused with a different Billy Moore on BoxRec; precise wins and losses unverified.
• The hospital escape scene in the film: based on a real attempt, but details are not independently documented.
• The 2023 gym altercation: publicly addressed, but circumstances and aftermath vary by report.
• His personal life: wife and son are kept out of the public record.

Why this matters: the core of Moore’s story — Liverpool, Thailand, prison, fighting, film — is documented by multiple sources. The uncertainty sits at the edges: dollar figures, charge sheets, and the private life he chooses not to share.

The story in their words

Sometimes the framing says more than the sentences do. The titles Moore’s story has traveled under tell their own arc: nightmare, survival, and a fight for life.

“A Nightmare in Thailand” — the memoir’s full title, as listed by Apple Books.

Apple Books

“How to survive a Thai prison” — the headline of Moore’s own first-person account, published by Shortlist after his release.

Billy Moore, writing for Shortlist

“Fighting for life in a Bangkok jail” — how RTÉ framed the story in its coverage of the film.

RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster

Three headlines, one consistent frame: this was a survival story before it was a redemption story, and everyone who told it — including Moore — led with the danger, not the triumph.

The takeaway

Billy Moore’s story keeps being told because it keeps changing. The film froze him in 2017 as a prisoner fighting for survival; the man today is a Liverpool restaurateur and podcaster who turned the worst period of his life into a public narrative — and a warning. For anyone in recovery, or anyone who has written off a person after a prison sentence, the story is evidence that the sequel matters. Moore must keep building the second act in Liverpool, or let the same patterns that sent him to Bangkok rewrite the ending.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Linda Calvey: Age, Crimes, and What She Is Doing Now in 2025 — another UK crime story with a current-life update.
• Andy Carroll: England Caps, Net Worth, and Wife Split — a Liverpool figure’s net worth and personal life, fact-checked.