The future's bright for a helper who tuned his life around
But instead of feeling rejected or scared, he was relieved to be away from a home where he felt so unloved.
He had started joy-riding and stealing and then decided to run away, at which point, he claims, his family gave up on him.
He was taken into care and continued on a downward spiral. By the age of 24, he had been locked up three times.
Now aged 31, he has come a very long way.
He is the proud father of Maigan Lilly, two, and is in a happy relationship with her mum, Kira Taylor.
And it is the confidence this gave him that led to him becoming a role model to troubled Derbyshire youngsters by working as a volunteer mentor with local charity Sporting Futures.
He tries to stop young people aged eight to 16 getting involved in drugs, crime or anti-social behaviour by encouraging them to play sport.
Martyn said: “Taking them off the streets for a few hours could be enough to stop them smashing a window or getting an anti-social behaviour order.
“It’s about spending time with them to stop them making the same mistakes I made.
“A lot of people, family and friends thought I was a lost cause. I had someone tell me I would be dead by the time I was 18.
“But when I came out of prison the last time, I just thought I didn’t want younger people like my nieces and nephews to go through what I’d been through.
“And I met my girlfriend, which has been a big help. She’s always been there for me and she’s given me the confidence to do what I want to do.”
Martyn’s problems began in childhood, when, he says, he was given little encouragement by his parents and his dad was very strict.
At 15 he moved in with his sister and began getting in trouble with the law for stealing and joy-riding.
Then he ran away, spending a week sleeping at friends’ houses before the police found him and took him back to his parents.
By that same evening, he had been taken into care.
Martyn said: “Everyone in my family said they didn’t want me any more.
“I sat for six hours on my own in the reception at Full Street police station, waiting for social services.
“But I was kind of glad to be getting away from everything. I didn’t have the best upbringing.”
The children’s home in Derby where he lived for three months with half-a-dozen other children did not help.
Martyn said: “There was no discipline there at all, you could go out whenever you wanted and, coming from a strict background, I rebelled big time. And I continued to rebel for the next two years.”
He moved out of the children’s home and into his brother’s house, where he again did what he liked.
He said: “I was going out and committing petty crimes, stealing car stereos for money because all I wanted to do was go down town and my brother didn’t give me any money. I had to look after myself.
“I remember one Christmas day having beans-on-toast for my dinner.”
At 17, he was sentenced to three years in a young offenders’ institute after getting into an argument with a man and threatening to kill him.
And it was there he realised the importance of sport as a means of increasing not just physical but also mental well-being – knowledge which he now uses as a volunteer to motivate youngsters.
He said: “I concentrated on going to the gym. I played football and badminton and did weight-lifting.
“I was going to the gym every other day for the 19 months I was in there.
“It helped me get my anger and frustration out. I felt good about myself and my mind was focused.”
Although sport had helped him, he was not yet able to turn his life around and was locked up twice more, for 18 months and then two years, for burglary.
After that, he picked up casual jobs, driving forklift trucks and working in warehouses, in between periods of unemployment.
He said: “It never felt right, I wanted to do something where I could see that I was making a difference.”
It was meeting girlfriend Kira which gave him a crucial boost to his confidence.
And then they had little Maigan Lilly, which made Martyn more interested in helping young people and keen to become a father she could be proud of.
This combination of factors prompted him to suddenly decide to go into the Sporting Futures office, which was in Merrill Way, Derby, before it moved to Ripley.
He had passed the office many times on the route between his home and his girlfriend’s house and had often thought about going in.
He said: “One day I just thought, ‘Why not? The worst thing that could happen is they say ‘no’.
“I didn’t know what I was going to say or anything, I just thought ‘be honest’.”
So he went in and spoke to volunteer manager Julie Bochkareva.
He said: “I explained everything about me, the fact that I’ve got a criminal record and what I’ve been through.
“I was nervous about telling her about my criminal record because some people can look down their nose at you for that.”
Julie Bochkareva said Martyn had been “open and honest” about his past, adding: “He is one of our most cheerful, helpful and passionate volunteers. He could sell the skin off a rice pudding!”
She signed him up and, following paperwork and training, for the past two months he has been working with a young lad who has signed up for an induction session at his local gym.
And he hopes to soon start mentoring a second person.
He has also been involved in the seven-week Strengthening Families Project, which involved a variety of activities with parents and children in Ilkeston to help them understand and get along with each other.
He said: “Julie told me one of the kids had said he was excited about me working with him. And when I did the family project, there were kids who wanted to be in my group.
“The parents on the family project were from my type of background – they were less fortunate.
“But there’s good in everybody and we try to get that out of people.”
Now has started training to be a football coach and hopes maybe he will be able to do that full-time some day with Sporting Futures.
He said: “I’ve still got so much to learn, life’s one massive learning curve. I’m trying to be a good dad and a good person and overcome my issues.
“Trying to do things with my life gives me a better understanding of myself.”
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