From the age of just 12, the youngster's behaviour drove her mum Carol and dad Carl to the end of their tether.

In little over a year she was arrested a staggering 58 times, for offences ranging from criminal damage to drunk and disorderly behaviour, and actual bodily harm.

Desperate to keep her out of trouble she was put under curfew in her room.

But the determined youngster would clamber out of her window to go drinking with friends, often not returning until the early hours – usually intoxicated.

Sophie received a referral order, a supervision order, and was even tagged, but nothing seemed to work.

Matters culminated in an attack on a girl on a Metro train, which left the victim needing hospital treatment.

For that offence Sophie, now 14, was remanded in custody at a youth detention centre in Liverpool for 11 days.

That she has been able to turn her life around is due in no small measure to an award-winning scheme run by South Tyneside Youth Offending Service.

The Skills For Life cooking project is part of a intensive supervision and surveillance programme (ISSP), which was recently recognised by the Howard League for Penal Reform as a "scheme of outstanding merit".

Sophie, who lives with her parents on the Scotch Estate in Jarrow, has had her life transformed by the project.

Once a persistent truant, she is now a regular attender at Galsworthy Alternative Education School in South Shields, where she recently took her SATs.

"I never used to spend any time with my family," she said. "Now we go to the cinema, or we'll decorate cakes together.

"Before I was always getting completely drunk on vodka and coke until the early hours. All that's behind me now, and now I'm home by 9pm every night. I feel much happier."

Dad Carl, 44, said: "Sophie was a nightmare. We couldn't control her. But since she has been on the scheme things have improved immensely.

"We have a much better relationship now. My wife and I also went on a parenting course, which helped a great deal too."

Claire Amans, who established the Skills For Life project more than five years ago, was Sophie's appointed ISSP worker.

She said: "We take an holistic approach which involves working with the whole family. It's an intensive programme, with daily support and daily contact for the first six months.

"Sophie was under curfew for the first three months, and had to attend school.

"Every plan is tailored to individual needs and the needs of the family.

"Sophie took part in various constructive activities, and dealt with issues she had never addressed in the past, such as shopping, budgeting and cooking."