Chapter Seven: 'Life inside Prison'
Given the Judge's comments at the time of imposing Sean's six-year prison sentence, Sean served three years of his original sentence, plus an extra 18 months added on in the form of an additional sentence (of which he would serve an extra year), for being part of a prison riot whilst serving time in Strangeways. Four full years he spent in Strangeways without contact from any outside source. No contact from the outside drove him crazy in some respects, but at least it enabled him to do his time in an odd kind of way. Often, Sean would see other inmates having to see and leave their loved ones every two weeks and then worry more about them than if they'd never seen them at all. He could do his time without seeing Maxine, but he'd do it all the better if only he could know how she was faring without him in her life.
Sean had not initially been part of the trouble that initially kicked off in the canteen. Earlier, a fight between two inmates had broken out on the wing during morning break and one of the prison guards had become too angry and hit one of the inmates over the skull with his baton.
Later that lunchtime in the canteen, a ruckus broke out. This initial disturbance had been contrived by the inmates as a decoy, during which the heavy-handed guard who'd used his cosh earlier would be targeted in an act of revenge. The guard who'd initially come over too heavy-handed with an inmate that morning was stabbed during the canteen commotion when all the prisoners threw their dinner plates at the four guards on canteen duty.
After the prison guard in question had been stabbed by an unidentified prisoner, many of the inmates made their way back to their landing cells, whilst a number of hot heads moved towards the roof to protest.
Although he didn't accompany them to climb onto the roof and rip off its slates, Sean was later wrongfully identified by another guard as having played a significant part in the canteen uprising.
Later that lunchtime in the canteen, a ruckus broke out. This initial disturbance had been contrived by the inmates as a decoy, during which the heavy-handed guard who'd used his cosh earlier would be targeted in an act of revenge. The guard who'd initially come over too heavy-handed with an inmate that morning was stabbed during the canteen commotion when all the prisoners threw their dinner plates at the four guards on canteen duty.
After the prison guard in question had been stabbed by an unidentified prisoner, many of the inmates made their way back to their landing cells, whilst a number of hot heads moved towards the roof to protest.
Although he didn't accompany them to climb onto the roof and rip off its slates, Sean was later wrongfully identified by another guard as having played a significant part in the canteen uprising.
After forty eight hours, the prison uprising was put down with the aid of cold weather, hungry stomachs of the protesters and the use of water cannon. While the prison authorities never established which prisoner had stabbed the guard and perforated his lung, all the roof protesters received an additional two years on top of their original sentences and anyone considered to have taken part in the canteen riot that precipitated the stabbing of the guard was given an extra year to 18 months prison sentence.
Sean had not written to his mother or family in Portlaw since his prison sentence and was therefore unaware of his mother's early death when it occurred. Had he known, he may not have possessed the emotional strength to do the remainder of his time in prison.
The time that Sean spent in Strangeways dragged for him, and apart from a few fights he became involved in, daily boredom was a prevalent feature of prison life. One of the prison fights with other inmates cost him another three months added to his sentence. The remainder of his time in prison was spent ducking and diving and attempting to keep out of the baron's clutches. It wasn't too long before he'd learnt all the ropes of the daily routine of prison life that was essential to survive the experience.
The most important thing Sean learned was never to grass on any inmate, under any circumstances, 'if you wanted to stay alive'. The next thing he learned was that 'merriment' was so rare an experience to have inside prison that if and when it came along, you should always enjoy it wholeheartedly! There were a number of transvestites who were the butt end of much prison banter. However, Sean will never forget one Christmas show they came up with, six months before his release. Two of the transvestites had dressed to the nines and in a kind of 'jail house rock' mock-up, and they put on a striptease show that brought the roof down!
The time that Sean spent in Strangeways dragged for him, and apart from a few fights he became involved in, daily boredom was a prevalent feature of prison life. One of the prison fights with other inmates cost him another three months added to his sentence. The remainder of his time in prison was spent ducking and diving and attempting to keep out of the baron's clutches. It wasn't too long before he'd learnt all the ropes of the daily routine of prison life that was essential to survive the experience.
The most important thing Sean learned was never to grass on any inmate, under any circumstances, 'if you wanted to stay alive'. The next thing he learned was that 'merriment' was so rare an experience to have inside prison that if and when it came along, you should always enjoy it wholeheartedly! There were a number of transvestites who were the butt end of much prison banter. However, Sean will never forget one Christmas show they came up with, six months before his release. Two of the transvestites had dressed to the nines and in a kind of 'jail house rock' mock-up, and they put on a striptease show that brought the roof down!
Three weeks before his scheduled release, Sean was involved in another fight on the wing and seriously feared that he'd lose another three months. This time though, the guard who had seen the fight and who should have reported it by instantly, placing Sean on a 'Governor's Report', spoke with Sean instead after the fracas and agreed to keep quiet 'for a price'.
The whole incident had been staged and the inmate who'd started a fight with Sean had clearly been put up to it by the barons. Sean was approaching the end of his sentence and he was being set up again. The prison guard who was on the payroll of one of the prison barons said he wouldn't place Sean on report if he delivered a letter to a person who'd meet him outside the prison on the morning of his release. Sean reluctantly agreed.
The whole incident had been staged and the inmate who'd started a fight with Sean had clearly been put up to it by the barons. Sean was approaching the end of his sentence and he was being set up again. The prison guard who was on the payroll of one of the prison barons said he wouldn't place Sean on report if he delivered a letter to a person who'd meet him outside the prison on the morning of his release. Sean reluctantly agreed.
On the morning of his release, Sean walked along to one of the landing cells and collected the letter for delivery that was given to him by a third party. Those who were responsible always got other inmates to do their dirty jobs for them; thus they remained clean. Also, it was a known fact that it was easier to slip contraband goods out of a prison instead of bringing them in!
One hour later, the letter had been handed to the man in question. Upon leaving the prison, five minutes passed by and as Sean waited for the next bus to take him to the centre of Manchester, a car pulled up alongside him and stopped. Sean had simply been told that someone would contact him, without being told who, when or where!
The car window of the smart Jaguar car was slowly wound down and a man with an everyday face unlike any criminal mug shot Sean had ever seen, held out his hand and simply said, 'You have something for me. The letter!" The words were spoken with the certain expectation of being complied with. Without further thought, Sean handed over the letter.
Sean then went into a nearby cafe to think. Initially, he thought about the letter he'd just handed over and why it was so important to one of the bosses inside the prison that it be delivered today. It could have contained anything; even the instructions to have some poor sod bumped off by a hit man or have the squeeze put on someone else to withdraw or change their police statement to the Prosecution Department dealing with a future case. He told himself that if some poor bugger had been worked over or killed as a consequence of his being a courier, he didn't want to know or ever find out about it.
Sean needed to plan some strategy for the immediate days ahead until he was able to follow his hunch and travel down to Aylesbury where he intended to look for Maxine. Whatever the reason why she still had not contacted him, Sean needed to put this episode in his life clearly behind him before he would be able to emotionally move on. He needed closure!
One hour later, the letter had been handed to the man in question. Upon leaving the prison, five minutes passed by and as Sean waited for the next bus to take him to the centre of Manchester, a car pulled up alongside him and stopped. Sean had simply been told that someone would contact him, without being told who, when or where!
The car window of the smart Jaguar car was slowly wound down and a man with an everyday face unlike any criminal mug shot Sean had ever seen, held out his hand and simply said, 'You have something for me. The letter!" The words were spoken with the certain expectation of being complied with. Without further thought, Sean handed over the letter.
Sean then went into a nearby cafe to think. Initially, he thought about the letter he'd just handed over and why it was so important to one of the bosses inside the prison that it be delivered today. It could have contained anything; even the instructions to have some poor sod bumped off by a hit man or have the squeeze put on someone else to withdraw or change their police statement to the Prosecution Department dealing with a future case. He told himself that if some poor bugger had been worked over or killed as a consequence of his being a courier, he didn't want to know or ever find out about it.
Sean needed to plan some strategy for the immediate days ahead until he was able to follow his hunch and travel down to Aylesbury where he intended to look for Maxine. Whatever the reason why she still had not contacted him, Sean needed to put this episode in his life clearly behind him before he would be able to emotionally move on. He needed closure!
|
Click here for the next page
|
Click here for the previous page
|
