Well those of you that know me will be aware that Jimmy McGovern is a close personal friend of mine. And by close personal friend I mean somebody I spoke to for an hour and corresponded with for a few months while he was writing the BBC1 Drama ‘Time’.
Well I had obviously told one or two close friends that I had been writing to Jimmy and had been answering some of his questions about the psychology, politics and machinations of prison life. This of course meant that EVERYBODY in the prison then heard the prison grapevine version that I had written the drama or that Jimmy had written a drama based on my life and in one instance that I had been on day release to star in the production.
On the Monday after episode 1 I received much comment and advice on the wing and around the prison. Most comments related to the ‘authenticity’ of the drama. When I saw one of the senior staff she was very upset with factual inaccuracy. She told me that in all her years she had never witnessed a prison car park with so many free spaces. Other than that it was perhaps the most accurate portrayal of UK prison life. That view was shared by pretty much everybody else that I spoke to, staff, prisoners and ex-prisoners alike.
Everybody could relate to the experiences of the character portrayed by Sean Bean. We all know somebody that has been on his journey. We have all seen first hand the criss-cross scars on self-harmers; the delays in getting medical attention to men; the bullying, violence and assaults. Sugar water attacks or ‘napalming’ is a brutal matter of fact event. And the poor bastard taking a hiding just to prove he’s ‘staunch’ – we have seen it all – and worse. Never mind the soap in the showers crap – spooning is enough to put a shiver up the spine of any who know prison. New arrivals that are suspected of anally smuggling drugs or contraband must pass a scrutinising committee. Often a few lads will barge into a target cell and throw a newspaper on the ground. It is understood that failing to defecate on the paper will lead to the welcoming party using a spoon to check for contraband.
So next time Jimmy, throw a few more cars in the car park and leave the rest as it is – you’re spot on.
However, when it comes to the type of bullying Sean Bean’s character experiences, sadly it does happen – and regularly, however I have found that there are limits. I remember one life affirming event from early in my own sentence. I was an orderly responsible for greeting new arrivals on the first night and induction wing of a large city centre ‘local’ prison. I saw all shapes, sizes, ethnicity and age of man as they landed in prison from court. The wing held 90 men and most moved off into the main prison after 3 or 4 nights. However, there was one thuggish chap that managed to hang around for weeks – he knew how to play the game. He had enemies on other wings among his many excuses. This thug prayed on the new arrivals each morning at unlock, taking tobacco, clothes and whatever he fancied. But one of his victims ended up in real crisis and rather than speak to the kangas and be branded a rat, he chose to speak to a Listener (basically a Samaritan trained peer supporter).
That afternoon one of the cleaners approached the thug, telling him he believed he had sourced some tradable prescription meds but wasn’t sure. Well the thug was only too willing to help identify it and he headed off to a cell to check it out. I can only imagine the thug’s arse fell out when the door closed behind him and he found himself in a locked cell with 8 cleaners crowding around him.
Not a hand was laid on him, however he was advised to return all of the clothes, watch and meds that he had stolen from the guy and that whatever he did in the future, the lad was off the market. Needless to say the thug made good and was more coercive than threatening in his dealings for a few weeks. When he finally got moved off he lasted for 10 minutes before he got the shit kicked out of him and ended up on medical last I heard.
For the next two years the wing was well run. We didn’t all like each other, we didn’t always get along, but we shared a goal. Don’t wind up the kangas.
In that rare time, when long served prison officers had the confidence and experience to employ a gentle hand, a collective of cons made the 160 year old hell hole where we lived just a little bit less shit. Then came austerity.
