But help was at hand. Darren was fortunate to benefit from a pilot project funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, where young offenders from Bridgend and Denbighshire placed in custody in England were given access to Welsh youth workers.
Despite the Youth Justice Board guidance stating that young offenders should not be housed more than 50 miles from home, Darren ended up in Ashfield YOI, near Bristol, 60 miles from Bridgend. There he was visited twice weekly by Sam Jones, a youth worker from Bridgend, who became a constant reassuring presence. Jones was a local voice, able to update him with all the neighbourhood gossip.
"It was important to have someone to talk to from home, and he's been great," says Darren. "I'd rather speak to someone Welsh."
Intensive work
Darren and Jones, who has worked with 17 teenagers from the Bridgend area in Ashfield YOI, shared recreational time in the gym, and worked together on music technology projects and producing digital stories.
"It's intensive work - they want all your attention - it's very much one to one," says Jones. "But it's also an arrangement among equals, rather than someone saying 'you must do this'."
The relationship has been maintained now Darren is out of custody. With Jones's guidance, Darren got his head down and began a construction course. He was then chosen from 15 applicants for an apprenticeship in painting and decorating.
Now aged 19, he spends three days a week at work and two at Bridgend College. He has also recently moved into his own flat. "I love doing the apprenticeship and I like the people I work with," he says.
Jones says half of those he was involved with at Ashfield have found employment or a training course since release.
But Darren was lucky: most of the estimated 500 young offenders who are packed off to secure institutions in England don't receive such support. They have to rely on family and friends or more generic mentoring programmes. Having a trusted professional from home to talk to can be invaluable while the young person is on the inside, but can prove equally as important on their release, when they are trying to navigate their way through a dizzying array of services such as Job Centre Plus, Careers Wales, housing and health.
Howard Williamson, who is a member of the Youth Justice Board and who introduced the custody support concept in Wales, says the pilot scheme has been all about providing "critical people at critical moments".
"With the right support at the right time, even the most recalcitrant young people can be turned around," he says. "But you need youth workers with sophisticated antennae."
Despite individual successes, future funding is uncertain. The Bridgend scheme ends in April and the Denbighshire one has already finished.
Cari-Sioux Hodgkinson, the custody support worker for Denbighshire Youth Service, says that while she enjoyed working with 11 teenagers who had been placed 60 miles away at Stoke Heath YOI in Shropshire, it did throw up challenges. As a woman, it was impossible to have the man-to-man chats that can help forge a bond.
Some of the young offenders spoke Welsh as their first language. Far from home, in an alien prison, they found it a major culture shock. As a Welsh speaker, Hodgkinson could help.
"Some didn't know how to express themselves easily in English," she says. "Also there was no provision to do any education in Welsh while in prison."
Making progress
Hodgkinson made progress on that front, although some young offenders were reluctant to have lessons in Welsh for fear of bullying from English inmates. She also helped them to write a guide for young people on how to cope with being in custody. After release, some found the confidence to organise trips such as a rock-climbing expedition. One has started a college cookery course.
It is the type of approach the Youth Justice Board is keen to encourage. "Well-matched mentors can be important in giving young offenders the support they may lack," says a spokesperson for the board. "There are various schemes, such as supporting those on community orders to help ease the transition from custody, and encouraging and maintaining engagement with employment and education."
For Darren, the support he has received both in and out of custody has been vital to changing his life and staying on at college.
"I'm going to give it my all," he says. "Now I've seen what I can achieve, I don't want to go back to crime."
FACT BOX
- There are currently 2,841 young people from England and Wales held in secure facilities
- On average, there are between 180 and 200 Welsh young people placed in custody in England
- Wales does not have a young offenders' institution or a secure training centre.
