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What will prison have in store for Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce? What will prison have in store for Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce?
(about 5 hours later)
Chris Huhne will follow in the footsteps of Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken and start his stretch in one of London's five jails; my guess would be Belmarsh or Wandsworth. Chris Huhne started his stretch in Wandsworth jail, south London .
He will travel there by "sweat box", with around a dozen other prisoners, locked in the vehicle's cells. The conditions are cramped – about six inches of leg and elbow room – and the seating hard. It will not be a peaceful journey: his fellow travellers will be aware of his presence and will raise a cacophony of noise along the way. They will bang on their doors, call out to him by name and warn him of the terrors that await him in the slammer. The warnings will be empty – the only part of Huhne that will be hurt will, no doubt, be his pride. Without doubt "Wanno", as it is known, has the worst reputation of any jail in the UK. Prisoners know it as a "screws' nick" where the regime is dictated by staff, not management.
On arrival, he will be escorted into the prison's reception area, given a uniform and processed. He should be allowed a telephone call. He will have a medical examination, asked if he is suicidal and if he has recently taken drugs. He will have travelled there by "sweat box", with about 12 other prisoners, locked in the vehicle's cramped cells. It will not have been a peaceful journey: his fellow travellers will have been aware of his presence and raised a cacophony of noise, banging on their doors, calling out to him by name and warning him of the terrors that await him in the slammer. The warnings will be empty – the only part of Huhne that will be hurt will, no doubt, be his pride.
The reception area will be busy and the process takes time. He will probably be given his evening meal there before being allocated a cell and taken to his wing in the early evening. As on the transport, there will be much banter from his fellow inmates. On arrival, he will have been escorted into the prison's reception area, given a uniform and processed. All new arrivals are allowed a phone call. He will have undergone a medical examination, asked if he is suicidal and if he has recently taken drugs.
He will share a cell on his first night and prison officers will perhaps try to find him a cellmate who is reasonably compatible – a white-collar criminal would fit the bill. He will be given Tuesday morning's breakfast, cereals and milk, tonight - porridge being a thing of the past. He will share a cell on his first night and prison officers will perhaps try to find him a cellmate who is reasonably compatible – a white-collar criminal would fit the bill.
On Tuesday, his day will begin at 7.45am. The processing will continue. He will take a literacy test and the myriad of prison rules will be explained. He will be asked to provide a list of telephone numbers for when he receives his phone card and these will be the only numbers he will be allowed to call. This morning, his day will have begun at 7.45am. The processing will continue. He will take a literacy test and prison rules will be explained. He will be asked to provide a list of phone numbers for when he receives his phone card – the only numbers he will be allowed to call. He should be able to visit the library.
He should get an opportunity to visit the library. He is unlikely to be given a job; they are at a premium in local jails and staff cannot be seen to favour him. So he will probably spend most of his days banged up, apart from meals, showers and exercise. Huhne will not dwell long in the local jail. He will be made a category D prisoner and taken to an open jail within weeks. Local jails are "warehouses", receiving prisoners from court and, in theory, categorising them and sending them to prisons suited to their security rating. In practice, they are overcrowded, chaotic churns, where staff struggle simply to service the population, get them fed and exercised, and attend to their basic medical needs.
Huhne will not dwell long in the local jail. He will be made a Category D prisoner and shipped out to an open jail within weeks. Local jails are "warehouses" (dustbins, some would say), receiving prisoners from court and, in theory, categorising them and sending them to prisons suited to their security rating. In practice, they are overcrowded, chaotic churns, where staff struggle simply to service the population, get them fed and exercised, and attend to their basic medical needs. Huhne may land up at Ford open prison, West Sussex, regarded as five-star by the cognoscenti and the former home to many a celebrity prisoner. There he will find work and a much greater degree of freedom.
Huhne may land up at Ford open prison, in Sussex, regarded as five-star by the cognoscenti and the former home to many a celebrity prisoner. There he will find work and a much greater degree of freedom. I met a few ex-public schoolboys in jail, who told me open prisons reminded them of their alma maters. So former Westminster boy Huhne should feel at home. Vicky Pryce has gone to Holloway, north London, also by sweat box, and may have found her journey as noisy as Huhne's. The reception process will be similar.
Vicky Pryce will go to Holloway, also by sweat box, and may find her journey to the north London jail as noisy as her ex-husband's. The reception process will follow the same lines as in male prisons, though usually with fewer inmates coming through, and slightly more measured. And, by and large, women prisoners tend to be more sympathetic to those in the same boat. She, too, will end up in an open jail, probably East Sutton, Kent. The only other open prison for women is Askham Grange, near York, causing many women to be housed hundreds of miles from their families.
Tragically, the suicide question asked of all new prisoners is far more pertinent in the women's estate. Females make up around 6% of the prison population, but account for almost half of all recorded incidents of self-harm. "Cutting up" and ligaturing is an almost daily occurrence and I suspect Pryce will be shocked at the vulnerability and condition of many of the women she meets. Pryce and Huhne will serve a quarter of their sentences in custody and then be released on home detention curfew (with an electronic tag fitted) for the second quarter.
She, too, will end up in an open jail, probably East Sutton in Kent. The only other open prison for women is Askham Grange, near York, causing many women to be housed hundreds of miles from their homes.
Both Pryce and Huhne will serve a quarter of their sentences in custody and then be released on home detention curfew (tagging) for the second quarter. Thereafter, they will be on licence until their terms expire and can be called back at any time if they fail to comply with the terms laid down by their probation officers.