A GULF war veteran — who spent time in prison after leaving the army — is spearheading a campaign to support ex-service men and women who suffer with issues including trauma and substance abuse.

Royston Brett has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder following the period he spent serving with the parachute regiment in Iraq the early 1990s.

After coming out of the army, the dad-of-four descended into a life of alcohol-abuse and repeat offending and has twice been in prison, serving sentences of four years and then seven months.

After a twist of fate led Mr Brett to be sent to a rehabilitation facility, he has turned his life around and now dedicates his time to volunteering with the Bolton branch of the Khulisa charity, which targets the causes of crime.

Working with Khulisa in the Bolton Hub, the 44-year-old is pioneering his own programme, which will work to offer more support for those leaving the armed forces as well as former servicemen and women who have spent time in prison.

To launch the programme, the keen cyclist is riding from the Bolton branch of Khulisa to the charity’s London office, setting off from the town centre on Armed Forces Day tomorrow.

Mr Brett said: “There is a lot of money spent training soldiers to become killing machines in the army, but there is very little spent on aftercare for when they come out.

“It is not a coincidence that 13 per cent of the prison population in England and Wales is made up of ex service personnel.

“It took 11 years for me to be diagnosed with PTSD, initially I was told that I was depressed and that was why I would drink alcohol, there was just no support on offer.”

Mr Brett, from Atherton, said he has a lot of very difficult memories from his time serving in the Gulf.

He said: “When you are involved in a firefight and as you advance you see children who have been shot and you don’t know if those bullets came from your gun, that is hard to forget — especially when you have children yourself.”

He said that after leaving the military, alcohol became a way of forgetting those memories but that in turn in led to a life of offending and two separate stints in prison.

He said: “A lot of people suffer with mental illness when they come out or substance abuse and they need to be diverted to the services they need — rather than simply put in prison.”

Mr Brett was on the brink of a third prison sentence when magistrates agreed to send him to a rehab facility, with a policeman escorting him to the door to stop him going for another drink.

He said: “I am convinced that day saved my life because if I had gone drinking and not gone to rehab, then I would have ended up back in prison where I think I would have committed suicide.

“I know a few people in my position who have done that after being sent down.”

Mr Brett, who now lives in Golborne, is now Khulisa’s Armed Forces Champion and is using his personal experiences to help design the charity’s service offer to the armed forces community.

His bike ride will also aim to raise money for the Walking With the Wounded charity.

To sponsor him visit https://www.justgiving.com/royston-Bolton