Jason Hoganson: Inside Hollywood actor’s fall from grace with drink and drug addiction and 100 convictions
JASON Hoganson was once a rising star with Hollywood looks and the world at his feet after landing a role in a big screen movie.
But he slipped into tragic spiral of addiction and crime that has landed him several spells in jail with more than 100 convictions.
Today Hoganson, 51, is behind bars again after he was caught breaking into a flat after missing his last bus home while drunk.
He stole only a cap and a jacket after forcing his way into a property in Newcastle in April.
As he was jailed for eight months last week, a court heard of the former actor’s descent into substance abuse and rough sleeping.
“His life could have been very different,” said defence lawyer Nick Lane.
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In 1987, Hoganson was cast as drifter Pete in crime thriller Empire State, set in London’s yuppie docklands and starring Oscar nominee Martin Landau.
It was his breakout role, and could have set him on the road to stardom.
But he was “unable to deal with his success”, said his lawyer.
His was a “sad case”, Mr Lane told a judge, stemming from a traumatic childhood.
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“In his own words he talks about tumbling down hills and getting his life stable again then a setback leading him into further use of illicit substances and a spiralling mental health crisis,” the lawyer said.
“He says he knows he should be dead by now given the abuse he had put his body through.
“He has self-harmed and has significant scarring to his face and other parts of the body.
“Because of sentences and offending he has seen his mother only two times in the last six years.”
Raised in Elswick, Newcastle, he was taken into care aged 13 because his mum Maureen could no longer cope with his erratic behaviour, he later recalled.
Hoganson said: “I was just part of the gang in Elswick and used to follow the crowd, and that’s how I got into trouble.”
Acting offered him the chance to turn his life around, and he beat 100 teenagers in his audition for Empire State.
He said: “I was very good at drama at school.
“I earned a lot of money doing that film, and met all the stars like Robson Green.
“Everything was going well but then my acting career was over and I just messed up everything in my life.”
Tragic descent
He turned drink and drugs to help cope with his mental turmoil, but it only sent him deeper into a spiral.
In 1996, he was jailed for seven years for aggravated burglary in which he threatened a woman in her home.
While inside he lost contact with his five children, and after his release in 2002 he spent years seven being treated as a psychiatric outpatient.
By the end of 2009 he was back in jail after being convicted of attacking his partner.
He was later jailed for another 16 weeks after he was caught carrying a knife in public
After his release in 2012, Hoganson told how he was was living on the streets after getting hooked on drugs and losing contact with his family.
He said: “I’m like the black sheep.
“My mum has done everything for me, she’s a really lovely woman, but my family have had enough and I don’t blame them.
“I can’t keep putting them through this.”
He said he spent his days trying to keep warm in cafes, and bedded down on the pavement at night between rubbish bins.
He said: “I could have gone back and lived with my mum, but she is on her own and she’s got a beautiful house.
“None of my family have got a criminal record.
“All I need is my own little place. That would mean that if any of my children wanted to come and see me in later life, they could.
“I have missed so much of their lives and no amount of money can get that back.”
In 2020, he was jailed again after he was caught carrying two knives in the street – just three weeks after being let out of prison for another offence.
Last week he was sent back inside yet again after pleading guilty to burglary at Newcastle Crown Court.
A judge heard he broke into a property on Newcastle’s Groat Market shortly after midnight on April 19.
A resident became aware of him in his bedroom and he asked for a cigarette before leaving.
Another resident followed him and out called police who caught up with him in an alleyway between Cloth Market and High Bridge.
He was arrested and found to be in possession of a cap and jacket swiped from the property.
CCTV showed him entering the residence and leaving 20 minutes later with the clothing.
Defence lawyer Nick Lane said despite Hoganson’s previous record of 103 convictions, he is not a habitual burglar.
He added: “Through me, he would wish to apologise to the occupants in the address because he understands they would have been caused alarm by his actions.
“He had consumed alcohol and had missed the last bus home.
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“In his inebriated state he behaved in the way your honour has heard and very much regrets his actions.
“He now has a relationship with a lady and he wants to stop taking drugs and focus on her.”
