IN THE SEVENTIES Ann led a double life. Neighbours knew her as "a bit of a hippy who walked miles with her dogs".

But by night she became a different person.

Gradually the parties she went to got wilder and more violent. Ann had a brown belt in judo and karate and in her forties took up kick-boxing.

Life became like a paperback thriller blurb. Homegrown pot. Arrested for possession. Holloway Prison. Arrested for violence. Banned from the county. Eight years on the run. Ann says:

"If I'd known what I was letting myself in for, I would never have let things go as far as they did, but by the time I realised how far into the world of drugs and violence I was, it was too late to get out. I was powerless to change.

"Over the years I drifted in and out of addiction, using every drug imaginable. Things were spiralling out of control so fast that I didn't have time to think about the consequences. Time had started to run out for me and I did time in Holloway Prison for possession of drugs.

"A few years later I was banished from the county on two occasions due to criminal activity. I lost my home, my wealth and my family, everything was snatched from me. I felt that I could never forgive myself.

"I had reached the point of despair and went into self-destruct mode, getting stoned from morning to night and fell once again back into heroin addiction. I had so many AKA's (aliases) that I didn't know which one was the real me. I was beyond caring; all that mattered was another bag of smack to numb the pain. Close friends had died from drug abuse. I was lost and didn't know who I was or where life was going.

"The turn around came after I did cold-turkey to get off heroin. I knew I was in danger of either a long time in prison or death. It was time for a reality check. And a few weeks later I was beaten up so badly I ended up in intensive care. That was the turning point.

"An old friend of mine who had become a Christian invited me to a Jesus Army meeting, and I went along.

"That day I asked Jesus to forgive me and free me from the chains which were holding me. Things started to change immediately: it was a dramatic transformation. I was high, but not the same high that drugs had given me. I felt so alive and like a weight had been lifted off me.

"At my baptism in water it was as though a bright light cut through my whole body; I felt clean and forgiven. I was amazed that this could be happening to someone like me.

"I now volunteer at the Northampton Jesus Centre. I am often surrounded by the oppressed, addicted and those who have been in prison, like I have. My heart is with these people; I can look into their eyes and see the pain, hold their hand and feel their suffering.

"Now I often write to and visit those in prison. On one occasion, visiting a prison, we prayed together and God's presence was so powerful that the inmate started shaking, crying and laughing right there in the visiting room!

"I believe God has called me to reach out to people and bring them out of darkness into His kingdom."