uh oh. a scumbag criminal is posting.....
might as well tell my experience as nobody knows me here..... i spent 5 weeks on remand in gloucester prison last year and for me it really was a doddle. i think gloucester is fairly soft i didn't see a single violent incident of any kind. the thing that surprised me most was how quiet it was at night. sometimes you'd get a few jokers singing but nothing worse than that. at first i was on B wing where it was mostly people around my age and older (i'm 35). then after a few weeks i got moved to A wing and everyone said oh it's much worse cause it's full of kids but it really wasn't. a few had stereos in their cells blaring crappy rnb during the day but nothing to be bothered about.
it's a category B prison i think and most people there are on short term sentences. most are in for burglary, shoplifting, theft. most people saw it as a break from their alcohol/drug abuse on the outside. i really didn't see any drugs on the inside although i'm sure it does go on. but my main point is that for the drinkers especially, it's a chance for their bodies to recover the abuse their internal organs take on the outside. many said they would be dead if it wasn't for their time in prison spent away from the drink. they see it as a time to recover and fatten themselves up again. food is the last thing they'll be spending money on when outside. yes there is a large choice of at least 5-6 items for lunch and tea but it's all crap. it's basically stodge that fills you up. you won't ever go hungry but don't expect anything to taste good either. if you have something like stew, i'm sure catfood has better quality meat in it (not that i've verified this but suffice to say it was not nice
). apparently the budget for food is roughly £2.50 per prisoner per day. that's for 2 meals served at the canteen (you return to your cell with the tray and eat it there) plus a breakfast pack. what struck me as really odd was how everyone had their own plastic cutlery and plates (i assume for safety reasons). but every cell has a kettle. i wouldn't fancy sharing with some nutter. imagine scolding water being poured on you.
rehabilitation was pretty much a joke there. because it was mainly a prison for short term stays they didn't have much of budget for education and this was a cause of frustration for some people i spoke to. they could do basic maths/english certificates worth less than a GCSE but couldn't do anything more than that. i was only on remand so i didn't have to work but all prisoners are expected to work after they are sentenced. you can earn upto 15 quid a week max. all the jobs were basically involved in the running of the place: canteen, cleaning, outside cleaning. on top of that wage you can get money sent in from the outside. depending on what level of privilege you're at (for good behaviour) will determine how much you can spend each week. at the very most you can spend roughly 50 quid. every friday is canteen day and this is basically a corner shop inside jail. except you don't browse. you get a list and you tick off all the items you want and then you pick them up. it ranges from sweets, condiments, crisps, tobacco, shavers, personal hygiene products. you can have standard issue prison toothpaste and shampoo for free if you want but some people prefer to buy colgate and decent shower gel. this was quite a luxury i didn't know about until i saw it with my own eyes. there were no game consoles that i saw. every cell has a 14in TV with limited freeview channels. having film4 was good as there was no limit to how late you could keep your tv on. you lose the tv for a week if you misbehave but as you share a cell with someone else, it's generally not a good idea to make them lose it as well.
there was a short-list of about 3 different stereos people could buy - the most expensive being around £80 from argos. they had catalogue pages on the wall.
as well as the work and "education" classes there are 3-4 1.5 hour sessions of association a week depending on the rota. this where you to get to mingle with all the other de-generates and use the phones outside in the hall. credit could be purchased from your balance. also, there is the gym which i think is a terrible idea. why make crooks bigger, stronger and faster.
i think when sentenced you could have 4 visits a month plus you get 2 stamped enevlopes a week for writing letters. additional stationary could be bought i think but i didn't have any use for that any of that.
i think the biggest factor that will affect your time inside and that's who you end up sharing a cell with. i was lucky really. although he was an alky on the outside, he was of course totally clean having already been resident before i moved in. he used to talk some crap but then that's no different to people you're stuck with on a day to day basis outside.
for me, the guards were pretty much invisible. behave yourself and you've got nothing to worry about.
the time dragged like hell. it was certainly the longest 5 weeks of my life. incidentally, i ended up there because of a family row. basically my whole family ignored my existence for years and then rattled my cage for no reason. so i got a bit upset and threatened one of them with a blunt weapon. i didn't use it and no one got hurt but the magistrates thought i was a danger despite it being a first offence so i was remanded. my case was referred to crown court costing the taxpayers thousands (not to mention the 800 odd quid a week to keep me inside). when i got there, the crown court couldn't believe my case hadn't been dealt with by the magistrate. it was a moment of madness for which i showed full remorse for and will never do again. i was finally released and sentenced to 120 hours community service for affray.
