I was in prison in my early twenties, AMA

[Lexibletheflexible]

I was in prison about 18 years ago, between the ages of 19-22. I now volunteer with charities supporting female prisoners. AMA

I was in a new prison so sort of like communal showers when you're at a caravan park.

so you don’t want any deterrents for illegally subletting council properties? Do you think it will be problematic to encourage people to do this? It’s illegal - so the criminal justice system obviously has an opinion on it..

Brilliant thread - thanks for posting, OP.

My question: did people leave you alone at night, and was it fairly quiet? Or relentless disruptions?

So was prison more effective then in that it took a drug dealer off the streets for a period of time?

Who can I be angry at other than myself? I think pity would be misplaced. It's how I was raised.

Not really. I left a more effective drug dealer who had now survived prison so any fear i had of it was gone.

Ah sorry I thought you said earlier after having children that the fear of incarceration stopped you selling drugs. So sounds like either way you would have sold drugs but prison physically stopped you for a few years but escalated the behaviour afterwards and if no prison you would have just sold drugs throughout?

“Do you think it will be problematic to encourage people to do this?”

a lack of deterrent isn’t the same as encouraging it.

the deterrent is you lose your secure high quality housing.

A lot of noise and disruption. Sometimes purposely by staff as a means of torture.

Yeah probably until I made and laundered enough money for a legitimate business of some kind.

Just want to say well done for turning things around I spent time in prison in my teens and early 20s no questions on prisons as unfortunately I know what it's like.

But the work you do now to help women is amazing,when I came out of prison i worked for a charity in Southampton who supports those with addiction issues and those who are homeless,many of the clients both male and female had history of emotional, physical sexual abuse,self harm mental health in childhood,it always seemed like although there are far less female prisoners than men, unfortunately women tended to be more likely to be jailed for less seriously offences like fraud and shoplifting.

The most rewarding part for me was actually showing people you genuinely cared many clients especially the female ones had been treated so bad usually at the hands of men it was so difficult for them to bring down the barriers and open up it would take months and months but when you earnt their trust is was so rewarding to show them you care and actually make a difference to their lives.

Unfortunately I left at the start of 2021 as I would often put a very strong case to the panel for a client to go to rehab only for funding to be declined due to lack of funds.

The birth of my son also played a huge part in me staying out of trouble so I can definitely relate to that.

And well done to doing this many people sadly have this perception of prison being something like Butlins and hopefully this thread will help them understand more about prisons well done op really interesting thread to read.

But you weren’t using it?! I mean if I don’t pay tax, I have to pay back the money stolen, plus penalties and interest. If I was just told please don’t do it again…. Actually that sounds like what very wealthy people are told and it doesn’t work!

So are you saying we would need longer sentences to stop drug dealing? Essentially nothing will stop people so just remove from society? Or would something else have been helpful?

Well the first thing you need to do is actually catch drug dealers for dealing. They didn't catch me for dealing and the case they had against all of us for possession fell apart.

Do you understand why they got indoctrinated? Did any manage to stay normal?

can I ask your level of educational achievement? You’re very articulate.

Yeah. Usually delusions of grandeur about being the one to create massive change. They're all the prison system has been waiting for etc etc. That leaves a long way to fall when you are faced with the reality.

I got 11 GCSEs, A-C. 5 As.

@RJ2023

you would have to at some point…

i highly doubt everyone is walking around in prison massively constipated. Though I could be wrong, OP can clarify… @Lexibletheflexible

Did you hate them? Did you have a positive relationship with any of them? Were any kind, or just nice, to you.

Do you think there’s any way to recruit people who will always do the right thing?

Do you think dealing with difficult women makes the prison guards hard and cold?

Right - but often you catch someone for something else knowing their guilt for a different crime . Al Capone was brought down for tax evasion right ? So it’s feasible police were aware of all your crimes but could only get you on one of them?

I have no doubt that it bothers some people up until the point they have complications.

5 A levels is very high by UK standards. Why didn’t you go to college? School must have seen you were bright? What is your parental background? You did say AMA!

I don't think they had a covert operation against me like they did him. I suppose they could have been aware of my shenanigans but I was never officially on their radar as such for my own stuff.

No i mean I got 5 As at GSCE. Didnt do A Levels.

My dad was a builder. Now they live off a few properties they renovated plus investments etc.

I worked in a prison and met several women who were imprisoned for having a boyfriend living with them who used the woman's flat to store illegal goods. When the men scarpered the women got imprisoned for possession .