The turning point came one evening while he was listening to a radio program called Matchmakers.

"This woman came on and introduced herself as Happy. She said she was looking for a genuine, sincere, honest guy. I thought that's a bit of me; I should write her a letter, so I did," he said. A few weeks later, he received a letter from her.

"We exchanged letters for a while, but I hadn't mentioned to Happy that I was in prison.

"She wrote back, saying she wanted to come and visit me, but that was a problem.

"I made up a story about being in jail for committing fraud; I didn't want to tell her the truth.

"Eventually she came to visit and the relationship developed; but it was about nine months before I told her the whole truth about how I ended up in jail."

Happy stood by him and it had a positive effect on him as the relationship developed. He became a model prisoner.

"My attitude changed because for the first time in my life I had someone other than myself to be concerned about," Mr Broome said.

He was transferred from Pentridge to Geelong Prison, where he and Happy were married while he was serving the last six months of his jail term.

Glenn was glad to leave Pentridge, a place he described as tough.

There, he had spent time in E and H divisions.

"It housed the who's who of the criminal world; I was being served dinner by the likes of Chopper Read and mixing with underworld figures Mr X and Victor Peirce.

"But I was at a stage in my life where I had to make some decisions about my future and that's when Happy came into my life."

Mr Broome said he was now getting to know his father and siblings and had settled down in Laverton. "I've found my niche and am very happy; I love being a mentor [with Whitelion] and can't stress enough how important a job it is, but we need more men to get involved."

■Whitelion , which provides support to young people leaving the juvenile justice system, holds its fund-raiser Bail Out Week from May 24-28. Details: visit www.whitelion.org.au