Cheers for the plaudits guys
- just kidding . Obviously would be much better all round if I was unable to tell the story but I did look around quite a lot and make mental notes of everything. If anyone's got any sort of general questions I might be able to answer, just ask - I read a lot about prisons in general and crime books inside and obviously have some first hand experience.
Just thinking of a few things as well for the lad when he returns. I forgot to mention time out of your cell in a C Cat. If you end up in jail, the B Cat is as bad as it gets for you. No matter how down you feel about the situation, just know that as soon as they put you on the sweatbox again, it only gets better from there (despite obviously still being in prison!). I wish I had known how much better the C Cat's were before I left. In a C Cat you'd find the whole housing block of the prison open from like 3-7pm, allowing you to move from dorm to dorm, to say hello to people, call friends and family whenever you want etc, which is a lot better than trying to do it within an hour. You can get a job cleaning your wing, or running the servery (food). There is education if you need it for I.T courses and that, and you can do Open University in there as well I think. There are jobs, you only earn like £6-8 a week for five 4 hour shifts, but it's a chance to get out of your cell and doing something. The day can drag if you just lie in bed all day! If you are in during the summer, and get a gardening job, you've made it.
Like others have said. Don't lend tobacco off people, unless your relationship has formed like it would with a mate on the outside and trust is there. I was with a guy who was having loads of money sent in, and he'd buy me tobacco and allow me to pay exactly the same back when my situation was better. Most people will try and double bubble you, which means if they give you something, you give two of the same thing back to them. You can run into debts this way.
Most of the violence I saw centred around the control and selling of drugs. My two cell mates used to smoke weed when it came in, I didn't and you probably wouldn't be able to either because you'll be on a drug course like me and be getting tested each week - so I wouldn't risk it if I was you - as it can complicate your own sentence (you go onto basic, or can get time added on, normally 28 days) and because you don't really want to get into any trouble. Don't trust anyone (which should be obvious as you'll be surrounded by criminals
) but I had my tobacco robbed off me in my first week in the C Cat. Be nice, but don't think because everyone's smiling they won't take your possessions when your not looking. Although saying that there is a camaraderie about prisoners if you end up on a good wing, because I got it back once everyone found out who the culprit was- who had a history - most likely because I was fairly young looking and a decent enough guy.
Don't believe everyone about their sentence. And try not to get too close to anyone for these reasons. One of my early best mates it turned out was in for raping a little boy - he had come from Littlehey a notorious sexual offender prison (sometimes a lot get sent there for their own safety as other jails exact their own form of justice), but not everyone at Littlehey is in for those reasons. I initially took him at his word for being in for 'something to do with his girlfriend', but it was a screw who revealed to everyone what he was actually in for. That's a situation I'd rather not be in ever again, as I felt sympathy for him, as he got beat up bad on C wing, B Wing and F wing before being "shipped out" (sent to another prison), but he had also committed a horrendous and unforgivable act which I only found out about after I grew to like him. There were two others like that, one appearing on the front page of the Scum- and looking back, it's easy to tell to be honest as their stories of their crimes are pretty shit and normally pretty vague.
The reason you can tell people are lying (I was naive) is that you can't get released on tag for the more serious of offences as I learnt later. You have to serve half the sentence definitely, so if they say are in for something that tag should be available for and you ask to see their papers, they wont' be able to produce them. So they'll have to make up something like they were carrying a knife or something to make their crime seem plausible.
Speaking of which, you'll serve hardly any of the sentence you get. I was given 16 months for supply and 12 months for possession with intent - these ran con currently (I didn't even know what this meant till 4 days into my sentence
) - but basically they run together, so my sentence was only 16 months (I thought I'd got 28 months). You'll likely be eligible for tag, and you'll get this information a couple of weeks after you arrive in prison. Of my 16 months, I only served 4 months, which sounds embarrassing but it was long enough for me let me tell you that! I did the remaining 4 months of my sentence on tag.
I got enhanced very quickly, because I did nothing wrong and I was really pleasant to the screws (although don't be overly pleasant, inmates will get nasty to you but in a C Cat there is no need to be nasty to them) and I completed the drugs course while I was inside. For tag, you will have to go and sit a board before they recommend you, I can't recall if some input is given by the guys that do the drugs course or your S/O but I imagine it might be . This is like 2-3 people who just ask you questions on your feelings and how you feel about what you've done. If it's your first offence, and you've made a concerted effort inside to do well, you'll breeze through and be out very quickly. That's an excellent moment.
I was looking at 10th April 2011 the earliest I could get out if I got tag, or 10th August 2011 if I served half the sentence. I was counting down to 10th of August, so when I got the letter through that I had been recommended for tag, it was a pretty exciting day, as you had a confirmed release date, that's the annoying thing, while you PROBABLY will get out on that date, you don't know for certain until the bit of paper in front of you prepares you for your release and has a confirmed date on it, and then the end of the tunnel is in sight. The release date is boss btw as well. I had to be in my house by 3pm on the day though, but we managed to get into my local pub before I had to be at probation, where the landlord who is a big friend of mine sorted me and my old man out a few free pints!
