Damien Linnane was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. Prior to going to prison he spent five years in the Australian Army as a Combat Medical Attendant and also completed a degree majoring in psychology at the University of New England. At the age of 29, Linnane was sentenced to ten months imprisonment for a series of crimes, including the firebombing of a home, with the sentencing magistrate finding his motivation was “vigilante action”. A member of his family had been sexually assaulted, and he aimed to get retribution against her attacker.

While in prison, Linnane wrote a crime thriller novel, Scarred, which was published in late 2019. One of the other activities that got him through his sentence was self-taught art therapy. Linnane now runs a business, Vigilante Studios, doing photo-realistic portraits by commission, and illustrated the book This is Ear Hustle in 2021 under a contract with Random House. Damien is also the editor of the prison journal Paper Chained, which is posted free to inmates worldwide, and is the host of Broken Chains, a posted on the prison system made in conjunction with the City of Newcastle.