Part 17 (2/2)
700 a to switch on the Today programme
Britain is in the middle of a rail strike
There's no station at North Sea Caht's drugs counselling ' Once the doctor has pronounced them fit, they will attend an adjudication chaired by Governor Leighton One of them tested positive for cannabis on his latest MDT, and adds ruefully that he expects to be shi+pped out to a B-cat prison later today Now I knohy he hardly spoke at yesterday's ht
100 pm The newspapers are full of stories about David Blunkett's proposed prison reforms, which seem no more than common sense
Anyone with a non-custodial sentence for a non-violent first offence will be placed on i to report to a police station every evening For lesser offences, they would be tagged immediately, with a curfew of 7 pm to 7 am A second offence and they would be sent to prison
As of 1 February, the prison population stood at 67,978 and the prediction is that already overcrowded prisons will be under additional pressure following Lord Chief Justice Woolf's recent pronounceers
400 pm Three moreif I could critique them Four publishers have turned one down; another says his wife, who is his sternest critic, thinks it's first class, and the final one seeks my advice on vanity publishers 21 420 pm One of today's inductees is a Mr T Blair He has been sentenced to six ing, expects to be released after only eight weeks The other Mr T Blair looks set to serve at least eight years
437 pm I still marvel at what prisoners will have the nerve to ask sister for Today, one inmate has demanded a bottle of aftershave because he has a skin proble, when Linda hands him a bottle and he leaves without another word
'Why can't he buy one in the canteen?' I ask
'You can't buy aftershave in the canteen,'
Linda reminds me, 'it contains alcohol, and several iniven'
'Non-alcoholic aftershave supplied especially for prison hospitals On your day of release,' Linda reminds me, 'any prisoner can demand a free needle to inject himself with heroin, as well as a packet of condoms'
DAY 203 - WEDNESDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2002
900 am I can't believe how stupid so where one of the participants told everyone present that he had given up drugs On Tuesday the sa an MDT for cannabis
Seven days were added to his sentence, and he told me he considered hiht the saht on his way back fros that included cannabis and heroin He was locked up in the segregation cell overnight, and will be shi+pped out thisto a B-cat with a further twenty-one days added to his sentence
His stupidity is not the only aspect of this incident worth considering If he'd been caught with such an assigns 'on the out' he would have been sentenced to at least seven years, but as his sentence is already fourteen, he gets aith twentyone days added It's just another pointer to the drugs proble
1100 ah that she cah so much it's simply better to reproduce it rather than attempt any precis (See below) Woman of substance Lady Archer's sense of hurant chemist has just submitted a ”hazardous e newsletter
”Element: woman Symbol: Wo
Discoverer: Ada but known to vary froe quantities in urban areas, with trace eleions
Physical properties: boils at absolutely nothing, freezes for no apparent reason Melts if given special treatment, bitter if used incorrectly Cheold, silver, platinum and all precious stones
The ent known to hly ornamental, especially in sports cars Can be a very effective cleaning agent
Hazards: highly dangerous except in experienced hands
Illegal to possess h several can beas specimens do not coraph also publishes the results of a poll on Mr Blunkett's recent pronounce-ments that non-violent, first-offence prisoners should be able, where possible, to continue their hile reporting into jails in the evenings and at weekends; 83 per cent say 'keep them locked up', while only 12 per cent feel the Ho these more realistic lines I must confess that before I'd been to prison, I would have been a the 83 per cent
700 pet beyond 'hello' that Baroness Nicholson has finally issued a statey (See below) Baroness Nicholson wishes to est that Lord Archer had personally misappropriated money raised by the Simple Truth appeal
Indeed, it had not occurred to her to think that it ain access to funds raised by the British Red Cross If tho inference was drawn that she was accusing Lord Archer of having stolen Sirets the rets any upset that may have been caused to Lord Archer's family
DAY 204 - THURSDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2002
900 am Mr Berlyn strides in at a brisk pace After a few es to tell ' draft, as all the prisons in the north of England are fully occupied Result: ill be getting ten new inmates today, and will be 'surplus to ourthose overcrowding statistics translated into reality
Mr Berlyn has directed that two inht I fear I will be experiencing a lot of this during the next feeeks, and Ihave to share heaven with so released toht be only tee out of the hospital carrying an oxygen cylinder and two first-aid boxes All I'm told is that a staff member has fallen off a ladder On the intercom it's announced that all security officersback in an A-cat where this was a daily occurrence Prisoners tell ham ambulances were more common than Black Marias
A few minutes later Linda and Gail return with a shaven-headed officer covered in blood It see a ladder and overbalanced, landing on the concrete below No prisoner was involved
I quickly discover that a small head wound can spurt so much blood that it appears far worse than it is When Linda has finished cleaning up her patient and I've given hiht of the whole episode But Linda still wants to dispatch hirim Hospital for stitches to the scalp wound, and both she as hospital sister, and Mr Hocking, head of security, have to fill in countless for that no prisoner was responsible
600 ps, this time to learn more about crack cocaine, its properties and its consequences It's quite difficult not to accept the argu and got a kick out of it, ress to another, si
1000 pht in the hospital appears at my door, a blanket and sheet under his arm
It seems they found a bed for the other arrival He's very quiet, despite the fact that he's being released toht, Jeff'
A?
DAY 205 - FRIDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2002
530 a dickhead?'
I'ht co, but when I turn to face him, I realize he's still fast asleep It's the first occasion so tis backuntil seven, when I have to wake hied from the bathroom, he's disappeared his sheets and pillowcases folded neatly at the end of the bed By now he'll be in reception, signing his discharge papers, and by eight-thirty will be on his way, a free man 22 200 pm Our t inductees today are somewhat unusual, and not just because they're both lifers ( have 23 lifers out of 210 occupants) The first one tells me that he's been in jail for twenty-three years and he's only thirty-nine The second one limps into the hospital and spends a considerable time with sister behind closed doors
Later, when I take his blood pressure and check his weight, he tells o he contracted encephalitis Once I've filled in his chart and handed it to Linda, I look up encephalitis in the medical dictionary Poor fellow Life imprisonment he may deserve, encephalitis he does not
DAY 206 - SAturdAY 9 FEBRUARY 2002
200 p a social event Mary even has a written agenda I do adore her
On the domestic front, she has purchased a small Victorian oes on to tellthat she wants to end the feud, clai that she never intended anyone to think that I had misappropriated any funds in the first place In which case, how did I end up in a cell three paces by five, banged up for fourteen hours a day at Wayland, if the police and Prison Service misunderstood her?23 As for the prejudice of Mr Justice Potts, it re to make a witness statement
He has confirmed, on many occasions, in the presence of several witnesses, that Potts, at a dinner party he and his wife attended, railed against me for some considerable time
400 pm When my name is called over the tannoy to report to reception, I assuate I've been expecting a dozen West Wing tapes that will first have to go to the library before I can take theht tapes, twelve CDs and three DVDs, not from James, but from an anonymous member of the public, so I can't even write to thank them
Someone else has sent seven books of first-class sta howevery day Mr Garley, the duty officer, explains that I can't have the stas), but I can have the staic)