He was battling his heroin addiction for the sake of his young son.
But tragically Glen Simmons could never escape his drugs past.
The 28-year-old was stabbed in the neck by former friend Christopher Thompson, 25, who had turned against him over a £5 debt.
Thompson, of Mowbray Terrace, Guide Post, was jailed for life for murdering Glen, outside the Co-op Store in the Northumberland village, in 2010.
Glen's partner Shelly Root told the Chronicle of her devastation.
She said: "Christopher deserves to be behind bars and I will never forgive him for what he's done.
"If he can do this to a friend, I'd hate to think what he'd do to an enemy.”
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