A REFORMED heroin addict turned property developer is hoping to film part of his life story in Swindon.

In the mid-70s, Stephen Smith spent several months living rough in the town.

Those traumatic years were recorded in his autobiography, Addict, which he now wants to turn into a film.

The idea for a film was first floated in the late 1990s, but Stephen was unhappy with the script and the project was abandoned.

Now a new screenplay has been produced, and Stephen hopes filming will start this summer.

"I want the film to show kids how low you can go on drugs, but also show that there is always a way out," said the 61-year-old, speaking from his home in Munich.

"I lived like an animal in Swindon, eating from dustbins.

"When you're homeless, it's not your money you lose or possessions or your home, you lose your soul.

"You lose the will to live, you don't feel like a human being.

"You just wander around aimlessly."

Stephen spent his time in Swindon hanging around the railway station and he also slept rough in Penhill.

His life consisted of shoplifting, begging and stealing to feed his addiction to speed and heroin.

The aim is to start filming in August and Stephen believes the script is good enough to attract big names.

"I am going to try and get Johnny Depp to play myself, although my first choice would be the English actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers," he said.

"He has a kind of natural wildness about him which you can't really act."

Before arriving in Swindon, Stephen lived in London, where he was involved in petty crime. His life was transformed when he fell in love and later married a German student Hannelore. The two are still together, and have two sons, Julian 19, and Oliver, 21.

With Hannelore's help, he rebuilt his life and forged a successful career in the property business.

He runs his own firm Ruff Properties and divides his time between Munich and London.

Tamash Lal