The saving grace for armed robber who found new path

It wasn't that he had been caught or was going to jail – again – the troubled young man no longer cared whether he lived or died. But alone and with nowhere to run, like desperate men in desperate situations before him, he had one last deal to make – with God.

When he appeared at York Crown Court on December 1, 1995, to be sentenced to 11 years in prison, he had already decided he would be judged in a higher court; that he would honour the vow he had made in a police cell.

Brought up on the East Coast, Mr Martinson had a difficult childhood.

Although he had the love of his mother, Jenny, his father was a violent, alcoholic drug addict, the worst role model possible for an impressionable young boy.

"Mum was lovely," he said. "She always did her best. Unfortunately, my dad thought a lot more about drink and drugs than he did about us, so home life was not great; in fact, it was horrible. Unfortunately, I became a violent sort of person."

He admits that on the few occasions when he did attend the town's secondary school his main purpose was to sell alcohol or drugs, or to get into a fight.

He went to live with his father when his parents split up, and the pair would go shoplifting together.

Just before his 15th birthday, he was arrested for criminal damage and was offered a stark choice by the chief inspector who gave him a caution – join the Army or end up in prison.

He joined the Army at 15-and-a-half and after training was enlisted in the 1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, and at first it seemed the lifestyle might suit him.

He said: "It was great; three square meals a day and a bit of discipline, just what I needed."

But even the exacting demands of an infantry battalion could not tame him – or keep him from temptation when he was posted to his regiment in Germany. "The problem was there was more drink and drugs available out there and they were a lot stronger," he said.

He remained volatile, getting into fights with "anybody and everybody", and also fell foul of the military authorities by regularly going absent without leave.

He soon found himself in an Army jail, or "Glasshouse", as it is known to soldiers.

Desperate to escape the Army, he stole the contents of a till at a garage in the UK, and made only a token effort to get away before the police arrived.

He was given a dishonourable discharge from the Army at the age of 20 and went to live with a girlfriend in York.

It was at that time, when his girlfriend invited a vicar into their home after another interminable row, that Mr Martinson began his conversation with the Almighty.

He said: "From the moment he walked in I knew he had something I wanted. There was something different about him."

Exploring his burgeoning faith – he had tried to engage with Army chaplains without success – Mr Martinson picked up the Bible and started reading the Book of Revelations, no easy task for someone who was dyslexic and barely literate.

"It scared the Hell out of me," he said.

But he continued, although at first he struggled to accept the message that God appeared to be giving him.

He said: "I argued with God. I said, 'How can you love me with all the people I've hurt and have hurt me?' And God just said, 'I love you'."

He still had further to fall, however, when he found himself homeless again and plunged deep into the criminal underworld.

He said: "I was back on the streets, drinking and taking drugs. I tried to kill myself, I'd had enough of life."

Mr Martinson fell in with hardened criminals and began taking part in armed robbery. Not expecting to escape that dangerous world alive, again he turned to God for help.

When he was arrested and put in the cell at Carlisle, the turning point had come.

He said: "God spoke to me and said, 'Now make your choice'."

He served his sentence at HMP Wolds in East Yorkshire and found the support he needed in the Rev Dave Casswell from the prison chaplaincy team. He now is part of the chaplaincy team in the Wolds, hoping to steer others away from crime.

Mr Martinson said: "He was fantastic and helped nurture my faith. That's when I first heard God say that one day I would be a vicar.

"I just laughed but ever since then that's what I've been working towards."

Given parole after four years and determined to be a force for good, Mr Martinson began making up for lost time.

He met his future wife, Haley, in the congregation at Christ Church in Bridlington – the couple now have a nine-year-old son, Seth – and took and passed a theology degree – "with God's grace and Haley's support".

He also set up a charity, Beyond Bars, working with ex-offenders, drug addicts and alcoholics.

He continued his studies, at an Assemblies of God Bible College near Retford, and at St John's Church of England College in Nottingham.

In May, he was ordained into the priesthood by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, in a ceremony at York Minster.

Now settled into the curacy at St Nicholas Church, Beverley, and working as a chaplain at the Wolds prison, he has the air of a man at peace with himself and the world, although he is not without regrets and is open and candid about his past.

He said: "If I could say sorry to people I would, but I can't turn the clock back and it's not easy for the people I hurt and I realise that. I'm not proud of some of the things I've done but I believe in a God of grace and a God of love that helps us to change.

"What I want to say is if God can take somebody like me, he can take anybody. We all need God at some time in our lives, whether you are a prostitute or a high-flying banker. He's always there and always willing to listen and to help."

He hopes his story will inspire others.

"In some ways the Church can seem like it has lost touch with reality and hopefully people can see through a story like mine that I'm just in some ways a normal sort of person and the Church has an awful lot to

give people.

"In some ways I hope I can be an example to people. Without God's saving grace I would be dead, there's no two ways about it."