News Focus: A young offender believes the £3m awarded to the Turnaround Project is money well spent, writes James Morgan. With video

"Jail? I don't really know if jail would have helped me. It might just have made me angrier," says John Kiltie. His was a pent-up anger. He was withdrawn and utterly lacking in confidence.

"I was kind of like a sheep. I followed the flock - the pals that I did have, back then," says the 20-year-old from Ayr.

"They would come up with daft ideas and I would say: Aye, let's do that'. That's how I started offending. I got three counts - two of theft and one of breach of the peace.

"I was angry, usually when I drank. I used to use drugs and stuff as well. Just out of boredom. I guess it was teenage rebellion. And without the programme I did, I think there would've been a danger of me slipping back into offending."

The Scottish Government yesterday announced £3m funding for a new project to help stop young men like Kiltie from going on to commit further offences.

The money will go to the Turnaround Project, which aims to offer an alternative to young men who have served several spells behind bars. It is hoped that it will cut reoffending rates, particularly among those with drug and alcohol problems.

The project - the first of its kind in Scotland - was launched by Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, who has repeatedly spoken out against short-term prison sentences for such offenders.

If successful, it could be rolled out across Scotland, as an alternative option to traditional punitive models of justice.

Kiltie is living proof that these alternatives can work.

"Different things help different people," he says. "Giving people a jail sentence doesn't necessarily help. But giving them a chance to go on a programme like I did might do.

Kiltie left school at 16. "I had an apprenticeship as an electrician. But I lost it, through not going to college classes," he says. "Things got difficult at home and I ended up in the homeless system.

"After my first offences, I was put on a year's probation. My probation officer referred me on to the Venture Trust, to try to help me get on the straight and narrow.

I met up with one of the outreach workers and we went up north, to a place called Applecross.

"What they do is try to help you out, give you a bit of helping hand with things, show you how to do things better, like my aggression, showing you how to calm down, walk away from things and come back and talk in a nice, calm and peaceful manner.

"Before I went there I was very, very shy. I did not talk at all. But meeting all the staff was a really big help.

"We were out doing different things - canoeing, abseiling and rock climbing. Staying in teepees, you have to cook your own food and tidy up after yourself, especially after staying in bothies.

"Everything they do is geared to giving you skills which will help you when you go back to your normal life. For me, it was communication skills and self-confidence. After I came back, I got rid of the pals I had, because I knew they were no good for me. Things were difficult at home but they are a lot better now. They're starting to see the change in me. I go out fishing with my dad.

"The venture trust has steered me in the right direction. It definitely helped me and the three other folk I saw completing the course. Even I saw the change in them. Hopefully, I can take what I've learned and move on, get a better life and don't go reoffending, because it's a waste of time."

The Venture Trust programme is one of four which will be available to service users of the Turnaround Project, which will be based in Irvine, Greenock, Dumbarton and a fourth so far undisclosed area.

It will assist men, aged 18 to 30, from the surrounding areas who are persistent petty criminals.

The scheme aims to deal with issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, anger management and social skills, as well as training and improving offenders' employment prospects.

Clients will be offered one-to-one counselling and group team-building sessions. For those who need a safer place, there will be a 12-bed residential facility, where they can take time to "stabilise".

The initiative is a partnership between three national voluntary sector agencies, Turning Point, Apex Scotland and Venture Trust. It will receive one-third of its funding from independent trusts and the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund.

Netta Maciver, chief executive of Turning Point Scotland, said: "There is no other facility like this in Scotland. We take your nearest offender and wrap our services around them. Everything they need is here in one place.

"When a young man comes to us at Turning Point, we don't focus on the offence, we focus on what lies behind it.

"Is he alcohol dependent? Is he violent? Is he a drug user? Is he separated or isolated in some way? Is there a housing issue, or is he having difficulty finding employment?

"By concentrating on the whole person, we are much more able to play a role in stopping their reoffending and ultimately connecting them back to the community they belong to."

The closest parallel to Turnaround is the 218 project - a Glasgow-based alternative to custody that offers women residential rehabilitative and detox programmes.

"We run 218 and we know it makes a difference," says Ms Maciver. "Our experience of working with women tells us that we can turn lives around. So we thought - why is no-one else doing that? Turnaround is a three-year pilot, and if it works, I think it needs to be rolled out across the whole of Scotland."

Mr MacAskill said: "I believe this project can help provide a radical approach to tackling one of the biggest problems in our society - how to offer often damaged and damaging young men a path out of crime.

"We're not talking about violent and sexual offenders here. We're dealing with the feckless laddie who can be downright stupid, but with a bit of help we can turn his life around."