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A Teessider who has set up a Stockton tech firm after being released from prison says he wants to give hope to ex-offenders.

Phil Gbarato, from Billingham , was locked up "indefinitely" in 2008 after he attacked two men with a pair of scissors.

He went inside at the age of 18 - and wasn't released until he was 26.

Now a 30-year-old dad, Phil says he has learned "the hard way" - and regrets his actions as a young man "from the bottom of his heart".

(Image: Ian Cooper / Teesside Live)

He has started Teesside Media Ltd with his partner Stacey Cain, who he got together with while he was still serving his sentence.

And to help feed the family while Stacey works on their business full-time, Phil has taken a job as a bin man four days a week, creating campaigns for clients on evenings and weekends.

"I wasted my life," he says, "and I wasn't willing to do it anymore.

"It has made me more focused and driven."

Phil 'took any job going' when he first left prison but was eventually given a sales position at the online marketing firm Stacey worked for previously.

"I had never done sales, in fact I'd never really had a proper job," he said.

"I was fresh out of a prison environment.

"The person I worked for was really kind.

"She said she wished more companies would give people like me a chance.

"They said 'Stacey has got you in, it's sink or swim'. And I did really well there."

(Image: Ian Cooper / Teesside Live)

Stacey, 34, said: "We were working for another company and we thought 'we can do this ourselves'.

"It's taking that plunge, when you get a family you want to make sure it's the right decision.

"So many people come out of prison and reoffend, we are an example, to say this is what you can do if you push and drive yourself.

"We want to reach out to people, to say 'yes we can help with the online business side of things but don't give up faith there are opportunities out there and don't struggle."

The couple has opened a Teesside Media Ltd office next to Arc on Stockton's Dovecot Street .

They already have a customer base, offering help with websites, search engine optimisation and social media campaigns.

Phil said: "When I was in prison, there was no hope for people in my position.

"I was 18.

"I made a lot of mistakes as a young man.

"I didn't have the best upbringing, I felt a little bit lost in my life.

"While I was in prison, Stacey was that little bit of hope for me to better myself.

"She helped me focus. We stuck together.

(Image: Ian Cooper / Teesside Live)

"I've tried to push myself, better myself.

"When we set the business up, I worried about paying the bills so I took a job on the bins.

"It was just that one crime - and I am full of regret.

"People learn the hard way or the easy way, and I learned the hard way.

"I paid my time, instead of getting into that cycle of reoffending, going to jail, getting back out.

"In the long run, it has bettered me.

"I don't think prison is the answer for everything and the best environment.

"But when you get out, it's your own choice.

"You can't change the past.

"You can only change the future.

"I hope people will say 'he's a good man' and he's sorting himself out'."