Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AMA
Original poster

I've been to prison AMA!

178 replies

NameChanger1987 · 10/07/2018 17:03

I was in a closed prison for 2 months then 4 months in an open prison. It was 5 years ago for a 'white collar' crime.

I know a lot of my friends irl always had lots of questions so wondered if you lot had the same?!

OP posts:
troodiedoo · 17/07/2018 18:39

Did you meet other prisoners who were unable to read/write? If so did you help them out?

Original poster
NameChanger1987 · 17/07/2018 20:56

@halfwitpicker I have no idea!

@LittleDoritt luckily that wasn’t an issue

@troodiedoo I didn’t meet anyone who couldn’t or if I did I didn’t know it.

OP posts:
lola212121 · 17/07/2018 21:12

Did you look down upon some of the offenders there ?

Original poster
NameChanger1987 · 18/07/2018 16:51

Not really, in the closed I saw some I recognised from news and I inside I was defo looking down on them but not in open tbh.

OP posts:
ferntwist · 18/07/2018 17:22

What are the facilities for washing in closed and open? Do you get to keep and wash your own uniforms?

ferntwist · 18/07/2018 17:22

Also, did you work while in open and if so what did you do? You mentioned uniforms so prisoners didn’t abscond from working.

bevelino · 18/07/2018 21:00

OP I am a lawyer and have acted for insurance companies to prosecute people for the type of crime you committed, but have never thought the defendants as hardened criminals. Wrong, yes and you deserved to be caught, but I hope you have learned your lesson and can rebuild your life. I applaud you for your refreshing honesty and wish you all the best.

Original poster
NameChanger1987 · 18/07/2018 22:25

I didn’t wash my own in closed but did in open. In open I wore my own clothes but when working a polo shirt and sweater. I did gardening for work, it was considered a good one!

Thanks @bevelino I’m definitely not a hardened criminal, just an idiot! I’m very fortunate that those around me gave me a chance so my life is back on track and I’m very grateful!

OP posts:
P00ka · 18/07/2018 22:34

/really interesting thread

P00ka · 18/07/2018 22:36

Do you ever think of how you could have 'tweaked' the crime so that you wouldn't have been caught?

Freyanna · 18/07/2018 22:50

Did any of your friends drop you because you had been to prison?

slithytove · 18/07/2018 22:51

Do you still own the properties op?

RadioDorothy · 18/07/2018 23:05

OP I'm in FCA compliance so this is very interesting! I've seen worse practices amongst mortgage advisers pre-2008, at least three that I investigated should have gone to prison but I don't know if they ever did. I didn't have much involvement in sale and rent back when it was around.

Actually spending (laundering) the money pushed you further into money laundering offences on top of the original fraud, that may have racked up the charges and contributed to you getting a custodial sentence. But I'm just speculating, outside of regulatory compliance I don't know how the law works in relation to fraud - we once pursued someone who defrauded clients out of £400k (not mortgage related) and he was definitely prosecuted, but sadly that all ended horribly before it went to trial. He would have gone to prison without question, but he committed suicide. Terrible business.

I'm quite surprised you served actual time for your crime, but I'm glad it served its purpose as a deterrent!

Out of professional curiosity, how was the discrepancy between the insurance sum assured and the mortgage valuation discovered? Who spotted it, the insurer?

jemmstar1980 · 18/07/2018 23:16

Are you a company director now? surely you got struck off?

For me this just doesn't add up? I don’t believe the they didn’t like the arrangements so they took a tough line on it.

Do you think you would have ever stopped yourself or only by being caught?

Lordamighty · 19/07/2018 08:01

How did they decide how much you owed. Presumably the mortgages are still secured against the properties, who owns them now?
I am astonished that you got a custodial sentence for this considering some of the things that people get away with.

ballseditupagain · 19/07/2018 09:57

Op what I don't understand about this is why you didn't just mortgage for what you paid and then 6 months later remortgage to release the equity? Or am I missing something?

Oscha · 19/07/2018 12:41

Apologies if this is too personal a question, but were you given a supply of menstrual products in prison or did you have to buy them? Were there enough? I have heard hideous stories about women having to share pads 😕

Original poster
NameChanger1987 · 19/07/2018 20:53

@P00ka no I don’t! I just wish I hadn’t done it.

@freyanna no, luckily I have amazing friends.

@slithytove no they’re owned a different company that I am involved with but in a completely different way.

@RadioDorothy Yeah I used to know people who did worse but, it’s just the way it is! It’s the money laundering that’s POCA related. There was already a wider investigation going on and then my insurer tipped them off that something might be iffy.

@jemmstarr1980 I have nothing to do with mortgages anymore. Not really sure what to say to it not adding up- There are loads of articles online about it. I like to think I would have stopped myself.

@Lordamighty to be honest I’m not even 100% sure myself, it seemed to be plucked out of the air. They seized a car years before sentencing but then valued it as th le later date. POCA and all associated with it are very confusing.

@ballseditupagain It was just the ‘best’ way to do it to get money through buy to let types of mortgages.

@Oscha we were given a supply in open. In closed I was asked if I needed any but I don’t know what would then have happened because I didn’t need any at the time- I had been on the pill outside so my periods didn’t restart for quite a while.

OP posts:
Mouseville65 · 21/07/2018 12:31

Can you not carry on taking your pill in prison?

P00ka · 21/07/2018 12:42

@namechanger1987 well then you are a good person Grin Wine
Hope it's all landed well for you. I bet you will have a perspective beyond your years now. Do you ever listen to 'normal' people prattling on about shite and think ffs?!

thenorthernluce · 21/07/2018 13:19

We hear a lot about drones delivering drugs and mobiles into prisons. Was that a problem at the time you were in prison? What other contraband did you encounter? Was there a thriving black market?

Thanks - this is so very interesting!

Gettingbackonmyfeet · 21/07/2018 13:26

I have to ask did you consider the I.pact on your family ? You mention repeatedly that you were just really stupid but did you recognize or care the damage it would do to other people?

To be open about bias I had a family member who did two stints of custodial for white collar ...not dissimilar to yours.

They often commented that they were silly and made a mistake but honestly they literally destroyed their parents and their brother

The father was so ashamed and worried that they couldn't see the impact on others he started refusing oncolocgy treatment and the brother paid insane money to solicitors and barristers

I'm honestly not attacking as I've worked in Criminal Justice for a very long time but I've always wanted to know in white collar like my family member does it go through your mind the impact on others when you are doing it?

Original poster
NameChanger1987 · 21/07/2018 14:59

@Gettingbackonmyfeet it’s a fair enough question. When I was doing it I didn’t think of my family and when I was caught I felt embarrassed with regard to my family. It was only when I saw my parents and siblings and saw how upset and scared they were that it really hit home what I’d dragged them into. To say my Mum was heartbroken is an understatement. For me though, it made me realise how lucky I am and I don’t chase ££ anymore. I now judge my achievements of what I have, an amazing set of family and friends. I no longer judge my life on how much money I have, or don’t have! I think now that my family see that, they’re much more forgiving and now within the family it’s more sort of joked about in a way. But, that’s with time at first and during it was painful.

@thenorthernluce in open there were those with mobiles and drugs etc. But not that many because if caught ‘high’ or with a phone you got taken out- recategorised- being in open is seen as a privilege (which it is) so it’s taken away if you don’t follow the rules. You do trade things like chocolate, milk and coffee/tea and make weird food in your pad chatting and playing games and they turn a blind eye! In closed mobiles were big as were drugs but not near me, the woman I shared a pad with in closed didn’t do drugs. Not drones though, just smuggled inside.

@P00ka I do when people say women’s prisons are easy or when people think Bad Girls or OITNB. I think it’s hard to get across that in closed it’s an awful and humiliating place and in open the Groundhog Day thing is no joke, it’s a horrible feeling of wasting your life. I didn’t have a violent or horrific experience but mentally it was really tough. I’m probably the most law abiding person in the world now, to the point my friends laugh at me- I now live my life like a risk assessment and “no don’t!” Is probably my most common phrase Grin

@Mouseville65 I would have thought you could, especially if it’s prescibed for another reason like problem periods. I’m not 100% sure because I stopped taking it so didn’t ask.

OP posts:
Gettingbackonmyfeet · 21/07/2018 15:03

Thanks I really appreciate the honesty , it actually helps to know it was a question of them not factoring in rather than not caring of the impact.

I wish my family member had the insight you came to and I genuinely have huge respect for the changes you made

I've worked in CJ for so long but generally on the non white collar side so my family member is harder for me to understand

Thanks again for the honesty and good luck with everything

AllRoadsLeadBackToRadley · 03/08/2018 10:52

And now the question a fair few on here want answering...

I have a kettle.

What else do I need? Noodles you say?