'I was drinking and taking drugs every day before being rescued from a motorway bridge - now I'm in the best place of my life'

By the age of 12, Richard Hall was already living a life of crime. The Wiganer spent his first six years being raised by his parents, who were addicted to heroin.

He says he witnessed regular violence in his home before his mum died. Yet Richard faced further physical and mental abuse after entering the care system, and before he had become a teenager, he was drinking and taking drugs.

It was the traumatic start that would set Richard on a path to self-destruction. But after being saved from a motorway bridge, the war veteran has turned his life around, the Liverpool Echo reports.

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As a youngster, one of his brothers joined the army and his other brother sadly took his own life. Richard remained in Wigan where he went down a very dark and dangerous path of crime, drink and drugs.

He said: “People talk about having difficult upbringings but mine was as difficult as they come. I don’t remember a lot as I have blanked a lot of it out, but it was horrific.

"Looking back, I clearly took drink and drugs to escape and this remained a theme for most of my life until recently.” The dad followed his older brother and joined the army, but this also turned out to be a traumatic experience.

Richard was based at the infamous Deepcut Barracks, where some soldiers suffered from mental health issues and others died at the barracks. He inevitably left, fearing he would take his own life if he stayed.

After leaving the army, Richard delved deep back into a life of drink and drugs, before it all finally became to a head and he found himself on a motorway bridge. Fortunately, two policemen managed to pull him to safety and he spent two months in a secure unit.

Richard