Hell (A Prison Diary 1)

9.36 am

Mr Knowles returns to escort me to the reception area where I first appeared just three long weeks ago. I am placed in a cubicle and strip-searched, just as I was on the day I arrived. Once I’ve put my clothes back on, they handcuff me – only for the second time – and then lead me out of the building and into what I would describe as a Transit van. Down the left-hand side are four single seats, one behind each other. On the right-hand side is a cubicle in which the prisoner is placed like some untamed lion. Once I’m locked in, I stare out of the little window for some time, until, without any warning, the vast electric barred gates slide slowly open.

As the black Transit van trundles out of Belmarsh, I have mixed feelings. Although I am delighted and relieved to be leaving, I’m also anxious and nervous about being cast into another world, having to start anew and form fresh relationships all over again.

It has taken me three weeks to pass through Hell. Am I about to arrive in Purgatory?

A PRISON DIARY. Copyright © 2002 by Jeffrey Archer. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. Not all images included in the print edition of this title are available in this ebook edition.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Archer, Jeffrey, 1940-

A prison diary / Jeffrey Archer.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-0-312-32186-4

1. Archer, Jeffrey, 1940—Diaries. 2. Archer, Jeffrey, 1940—Imprisonment. 3. Novelists, English—20th century—Diaries. 4. Prisoners—Great Britain—Diaries. 5. HMP Belmarsh. I. Title.

PR6051.R285Z474 2003

828'.91403—dc21

[B]

2003046688

* 73 people committed suicide in British prisons in 2001, 22 of them were first-time offenders Over 1,500 prisoners attempted hanging, strangulation or suffocation in 2000, a rise of 50 per cent over the 1999 figures

* There are no wooden items in the cell, as first-night prisoners often smash up everything.

† Nick Purnell QC asked Mr Justice Potts if I could be excused from the court to be with my mother. He refused our request. A second request was made at the beginning of the afternoon session, which he reluctantly agreed to. I reached my mother’s bedside an hour before she died.

* They also emphasize in the same booklet that Belmarsh will not tolerate any form of bullying and they have a firm policy of no racial, ethnic or religious discrimination.

* It is not uncommon for a lifer to be moved from prison to prison, so that they can never settle or gain the upper hand.

* On 2 July 2002, Barry George lost his appeal

* There are four categories of prisoner, A, B, C, D. A-cat are violent and dangerous prisoners, with the possible resources, i.e. money, to escape; B are violent and dangerous, but not always murderers (i.e. GBH, ABH, manslaughter or rape), C, the vast majority, are repeat offenders or convicted of a serious, non-violent crime, e.g. drug-dealers; D are usually first offence, no history of violence, often with short sentences, and likely to conform to the system, as they wish to return to society as quickly as possible

* Selected prisoners are invited to become Listeners. They are then trained by the Samaritans so that they can assist fellow inmates who are finding prison hard to come to terms with, especially those contemplating suicide.

* I will only use foul language when it’s reported in speech, which for most inmates is every sentence. Fuckin’ is the only adjective they ever bother with.

* This is a common experience in most jails, and can go on all night. They are known as ‘window warriors’.

* You’re allowed one Bic razor a day, and not until you hand in your old one will they supply you with a new one. It was several days before I discovered why.

* Lyndon Baines Johnson, the thirty-sixth President of the United States.

* I discovered later that you can buy a plug from the canteen for 25p, but if you leave your cell door open for more than a minute, it disappears.

* White cards denote Church of England, red cards Roman Catholic, yellow, Muslim, and green, Jewish. This is to show any dietary needs, and if you are attending a service when you should he locked up.