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Prison
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Got court coming up in a few weeks and will probably get sent down. I wish I could change things but know I can't so just trying to mkae the best of things now. Have been looking at the HMP website and there is good info there but just wondering if anybody has any idea what it is really like. Some people are saying to me it's a holiday camp and others are saying all sorts about what goes on. Never thought I'd be one asking this question?
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I know a few people that've been sent to a minimum security prison, they just had to check in every day and were on tag/curfew and say its nothing like the prison depicted on tv. I'd imagine higher security prisons are much worse though..so i guess it all depends on what you did
In general terms, you won't have access to your own things and you won't be able to wear your own clothes. You'll be given prison issue clothing. If you have issues with substance misuse you should be offered help with this, but it often doesn't happen. There should be opportunities for work or education, but this depends on how long you get sent down for. With short sentences generally you get sod all.
As for what happens in there, generally it's very very boring. How boring it is depends on staffing levels. If staffing levels are where they should be then you should be out of your cell for quite a bit of the day. If staffing levels are low (and they often are) you could end up on 23-hour lockdown for days on end. What you are able to do also depends on how well you behave and how long you get sent down for; if you're on good behaviour and you're in for a long stretch you should get plenty of privileges. If you're going to be in for less than six months the prisons tend to forget about a lot of privileges and just look at getting you through the system as soon as possible.
As for the condition of the actual prison, it varies hugely from prison to prison. Some prisons are generally quite comfortable. They're not like a holiday camp by any stretch, but they're not all that bad. Some prisons, on the other hand, are disgusting. The 'transfer' prisons (the ones you get sent to straight from court) tend to be the worst.
I just hope you're not from Teesside or North Yorkshire. HMP Home House is probably the worst prison I've ever had the misfortune of stepping inside.
Everyone automatically gets a TV to begin with, but everything else including snacks and electricity (not your main meals) have to be paid for out of the wages you get at your prison job. Most prisoners were on £10 a week. £1 of that went to pay for their room and board.
The luxuries however weren't any cheaper on the inside than they were on the high street. An inmate was looking at saving up for about 4-5 weeks for a PS1 without any games........
Also, if the inmate misbehaved the luxuries were removed and had to be bought back.
As for conditions, they were what I expected. A shared room, thin shitty matress, steel toilet that could be seen by your cell mate and any guard who decided to look in and as Kermit says they only legally have to let anyone out for an hour a day, which is made up of exercise/eating or showering.