British Prison Life

[ronnietoon]

what is to be expected etc

[trt]

## My own experience of prison....
1) Loneliness.
2) Never knowing what nutter you will have to share a cell with
3) Boredom (yes you CAN be locked up 23 hours a day)
4) Bullying prison staff
5) Bullying inmates
6) Lack of privacy (could you deficate in front of someone else?)
7) Stigma of having been a 'con'
8) Having to wear clothes that have been worn hundreds of times before by hundreds of different cons, inc underwear
9) Awful food

Prisons are not holiday camps. ##

So why do so many re offend?????????

[EDDIE51]

^^ it does not matter as far as future employment is concerned. it is the prison sentence on your record that employers see. But Yes there is a huge difference between a high security cat A and an open Cat D. Again, read Jeffrey Archers trio of prison books 'Hell' about Belmarsh cat A to 'Heaven' about North Sea Camp cat D ,( where I worked) His first book 'Hell' is a real eye opener. Remember he actually did 'time' in all 3 prisons he wrote about, they are not stories they are factually correct accounts of prison life.

[EDDIE51]

trt read my post ! 75% of ALL prisoners NEVER get a paid job again!!! That is why they re offend. No job and benefits cut for 'not trying to find employment' when the reality is no one will employ an ex con. But try telling that to the job centre when they stop your benefit for not getting a job. If they go back inside at least they have food and a roof over their head!

[kylesmum]

People re-offend trt simply by the the list you re-posted.

I don't mean this to be a rhetorical question but hey ho... has anyone actually been in a desperate situation when you actually have contemplated breaking a law?

I have...

[EDDIE51]

i have met and talked to a guy who did not want to leave Prison. He served his time and was released on licence. The prison bus dropped him off at the railway station with his travel warrant for the journey home. He picked up a brick and threw it through the ticket office window, he was arrested and taken back to jail.
That was what he wanted, in jail he had a bed and 3 meals a day, outside he had nothing, no where to live no job, no food , no money.

[Orderlimit]

From some of the examples provided prison doesn't appear much different to say joining a hardcore British infantry regiment like the Para's

Roonietown - organisations such as www.prisonadvice.org.uk are worth contacting or any other simliar local groups.

[EDDIE51]

This is very good for information about life in prison and the prison system in general
http://www.insidetime.co.uk/
The online version is free.

[Orderlimit]

Some interesting articles in that publication ED :)

[ummmm]

My friend is recently out of prison (7 year sentence) and like Eddie says it's a 23 hour lock up unless you get a job.

[ummmm]

Or go to education. He got his A Levels....

[Orderlimit]

Here are the standard unlocking times for one of the hardest Cat A estates:

Mon: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 19:15
Tue: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 19:15
Wed: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 19:15
Thu: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 19:15
Fri: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 17:10
Sat: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 17:10
Sun: 08:00 - 12:20 & 13:50 - 17:10

[Orderlimit]

^ and they can do all their own cooking if they choose

[nailit]

As has already been pointed out Orderlimit,
1) There's vast differences between different catagory prisons and
2) There's a huge difference between what is supposed to happen and what really does happen and 23 hour lockups are more common than the prison service would have us believe.

Its been a long time since I read this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prisongate-Shocking-Britains-Prisons-Visionary/dp/0743259521
but I seem to remember David Ramsbotham talking at length about the amount of time prisoners were kept caged up. Treat people like animals and you will get??? Any guesses?

Also cat A prisons are lifer prisons and tend to be run (by there very nature) different than the normal prison regime. Ive never had the chance to cook my own meals in clink.

[EDDIE51]

Open prisons are often described as 'Holiday Camp s' this article is about 'North Sea Camp' the open prison where Jeffrey Archer wrote his 3rd prison book 'Heaven' but there is more to an open prison than that
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/13/open-prison-no-holiday-camp

[Orderlimit]

I would imagine all prisons are very unpleasant places including Cat D, but if faced with a custodial sentence then you have to listen & learn fast and get through it - it's not the end of the world etc.

[Daffy6543]

I live a few minutes walk away from Kirkham Open Prison. The inmates there are often allowed to leave the prison to attend work or education. There is high incidence of drug use and I believe the highest incidence in the country of the prisoners illegally having mobile phones.

[Orderlimit]

(Most have escaped from the open prison near me Daffy - must be one of the only prisons in the world where inmates find it harder to break back in for roll-call than escape)

[Daffy6543]

Same here Orderlimit, there are regular announcements about prisoners 'going walkies'.
I used to have to walk past the prison 4 times a day when my son was at primary school, there were often packages of stuff shoved under the fence by people for the prisoners, my son picked one up once and it was full of pills of some sort, I handed it to the police.

[Orderlimit]

Yes, the number of people escaping from open prisons is concerning Daffy. Check this prison out:

"Police are hunting a convicted burglar who has absconded from HMP Leyhill - the third inmate to go on the run from the prison inside a week"

Leyhill prison also got ram-raided not too long ago where some 40k (i think) worth of tobacco and that got stolen. (Probably the locals taking advantage of the site security).

[nailit]

Being a bit pedantic here, but you don't 'escape' from an open prison. (theres nothing to 'escape' from) you abscond.