"You can't do graft and have empathy." The words are spoken by Mark, as he explains how he felt no emotion as he committed crimes - whether it was holding up a Post Office with an imitation gun, or terrorising families in Asian gold burglaries.
He has just been released from a jail sentence of more than a decade. Since his childhood he has known only one profession, crime. But, for the first time in his life he now has a job.
Aged 39, he is one of 30 ex-offenders who have been given a chance to walk a different path. They have been referred to a charity based on an inner-city Salford estate. For some it is more of a last chance than second chance.
