WHEN Billy McCurrie was 17 years old he murdered a man in an attempt to avenge his father’s death five years earlier.

Next week the former terrorist, who is now a Baptist minister near Liverpool, will be in Headington to explain his conversion to Christianity and try to encourage others to discover Jesus Christ.

The 57-year-old is one of four special guests who will speak at a week of events at St Ebbe’s Church in Lime Walk.

The Real Lives programme will allow the speakers from various walks of life to explain their faith and how it influences their lives.

Mr McCurrie, who is originally from Belfast, served almost ten years in prison after murdering a fellow member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, in 1976.

He was led to believe the man was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had murdered his father when Mr McCurrie was just 12 years old.

But on Christmas Eve 1980 he became a Christian whilst in the Maze Prison near Belfast.

Mr McCurrie said: “I heard the story of the crucifixion and that just transformed my life. There was remorse, regret, guilt. From that point on my life was transformed. At the time I carried out my crime there was no sense of remorse. There was a sense of pride. I had no interest in God or religion.”

After being released from prison, the father-of-five trained to become a Baptist minister and now speaks regularly about his experiences in the hope other people can find God.

He said: “God is as real today as he was back in 1980. Other people maybe have not come through what I have come through but we all go through trials and tribulations which sometimes cause resentment. People often carry that through the years with them.

“What I would love after speaking at St Ebbe’s would be to see people coming to know Jesus Christ as their saviour as I have.

“If people come away having been challenged and helped in some way, if they are carrying some resentment, I hope they can find some closure.”

Event organiser Gareth Loh said: “It’s a chance to hear about real Christianity in real people.”

Mr McCurrie will speak on Friday and will be the last of the four speakers.

Olympic silver and world gold medallist Debbie Flood will speak tonight and Robin Oake, whose police officer son was killed by a terrorist suspect, will speak tomorrow night. Rachel Waddilove, a maternity nurse who has looked after the children of many celebrities, will speak on Thursday.

Doors open each evening at 7.30pm.