Know anything about prison?

melissak · 27-09-2015 09:39PM

Bring a harmonica and a tin cup, they dont have bars any more but you can bang it on the door for effect, and learn all the words to you're in the jailhouse now and any johnny cash song that takes your fancy and sing loudly in a maudlin, I'm oppressed, sort of voice. They should let you out fairly lively. If not, make hooch, and continue singing

housetypeb · 27-09-2015 09:41PM

I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.

posturingpat · 27-09-2015 09:43PM

sean2591 wrote: »

Looking like I will be going there. Only for unpaid fines for driving stuff. They add up to alot and I don't want to end up in debt so going to do the time instead. I already have the convictions so it won't change my record but I will save on the fines. Added together it's about 30 days but the guard I was talking to said I would probably only do a few days at most and that some people with fines only do a few hours. The guard was sound and gave me a few days to get things to get sorted.

So just wondering if anybody knows what it's like inside? Do people in for fines be kept apart from the regular prisoners? If you are in Dublin do you go to Mountjoy?

Had a pal in Castlerea for a few months, got caught up oweing a few pound and ended up doing courier for a coke dealer and got caught with 10k worth. Did the time and has got back on the straight and narrow, says it was the scariest time of his life,nearly took heroin in there and there were lads in there when he was that went in for small misdemeanours and left as hardened criminals or junkies.

I'd advise paying all off and going nowhere near prison,money won't get you back the horrors you'll see in there if the stories my friend told me are to be believed.

sean2591 · 27-09-2015 09:44PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Depends on your luck, you may get robbed and beaten on your first day. Do not expect to be segregated, this will not happen not sure about mountjoy but Cloverhill is three to a cell, better hope you get on. All people on the intake will be thrown in one holding cell, possibly for hours. This is where you are most at risk. Usually the first one to start on the new guy is a pussy trying to make a name for himself, this is the guy to stand up to. Of course, he may turn out to be a complete nutjob so be prepared for a kicking. Take nothing of value with you unless you are willing to fight for it. When I say fight I mean extreme violence, not fisticuffs. There are no gentlemens rules.

You will be strip searched on intake, humiliating. Any weakness will be exploited to the full by others. You may get by easy, you may have the worst few weeks of your life.

Personally, I would find the money by whatever means. Prison is no place for anyone other than hardened criminals. I went in a boy and came out a thug that walked like 10 men. (I did a few years) Took me a long, long time to get back to normal.

For real or taking the piss with me?

Collie D · 27-09-2015 09:45PM

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Unbelievable thread and country where most of the comments relating to first time in prison are, don't worry, you'll be okay and you'll be out in a few hours.

I would disagree. While sentences for violent crime are tame in this country I don't think a couple of speeding tickets merit a prison sentence.

Also, a (relatively speaking) safe prison system is not something to be unhappy about

Uncle Ben · 27-09-2015 09:45PM

sean2591 wrote: »

Looking like I will be going there. Only for unpaid fines for driving stuff. They add up to alot and I don't want to end up in debt so going to do the time instead. I already have the convictions so it won't change my record but I will save on the fines. Added together it's about 30 days but the guard I was talking to said I would probably only do a few days at most and that some people with fines only do a few hours. The guard was sound and gave me a few days to get things to get sorted.

So just wondering if anybody knows what it's like inside? Do people in for fines be kept apart from the regular prisoners? If you are in Dublin do you go to Mountjoy?

Just wondering is Sean2591 your prison number.

Deep Six · 27-09-2015 09:45PM

housetypeb wrote: »

I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.

I know not what I did wrong,
Or what I can change,
But I came out of prison,
With an arsehole like a chewed orange

-Anonymous

Brian from Bray · 27-09-2015 09:45PM

posturingpat wrote: »

Had a pal in Castlerea for a few months, got caught up oweing a few pound and ended up doing courier for a coke dealer and got caught with 10k worth. Did the time and has got back on the straight and narrow, says it was the scariest time of his life,nearly took heroin in there and there were lads in there when he was that went in for small misdemeanours and left as hardened criminals or junkies.

I'd advise paying all off and going nowhere near prison,money won't get you back the horrors you'll see in there if the stories my friend told me are to be believed.

The OP will be fine as long as keeps his head down and to himself.

krazyklown · 27-09-2015 09:48PM

Unfortunately my brother had to go for a little 'holiday' for a driving offence almost five years ago. He got six weeks, served five and got Temporary Release for the last week. It was in the West of Ireland - he did three weeks in Castlerea in a campus inside the prison walls but not in the main prison. Basically, it was a group of houses, kind of like a college campus, with four bedrooms sharing two to a room. It was fairly relaxed, the visiting hours were more flexible than the main prison and you could hang out together in the yard. Surreal experience for our family as we have never been in that environment. He said the first night was terrifying - when he arrived at the prison he spent the night in a holding cell with a load of other guys who had just gone down (in court) and were fairly hyper. There were no beds only matresses on the ground and no toilets. Pretty grim stuff. The following day he was moved to the campus. He found he had to be on gaurd the whole time - as the newbie he was quizzed up and down; it was mostly travellers and he nearly got in a bit of trouble when he ended sitting at a table with the paedos which his housemates werent happy about. Seemingly, its social suicide on the inside. After a couple of days he settled a bit and felt relaxed enough. Ended up doing some training with one traveller who was awful keen to go sparring with my brother. He had a bare knuckle fight arranged for the day he was to be released and this was his training camp. My brother politely declined. Would have been massacred. The only hassle he had for fellas robbing stuff off him (cigarettes, confectionary) and eventually told us to stop bringing in stuff as he knew it would be taken on him.
He was then moved to an open prison in Loughlinstown in Cavan. This was basically like a boarding school for very low risk inmates. Literally you could walk out if you wanted - the gates were open during the day and they had classes in a nearby building (woodwork etc). He felt more unsafe here as again it was mostly travellers and with the shortage of gaurds there was a fair bit of intimidation. Drug use was rife in the place and my brother had the misfortune to bunk with a dealer. One day, when on his own, a guy came in and threatened to knife my brother if he didnt tell him where the dealer kept his stash. 'Ratting' was a big thing there - when my brother was granted temporary release (where you leave the prison and are confined to your home for the remainder of your sentence) he was confronted and challenged on who he 'ratted' on to get TR....
I think my brother adapted quite quickly and kept his head down, talked when he had to and tried to give as little away about himself as he could (didnt want anyone following him home!). Not a great experience for us as a family, had a big affect on my mother and the social stigma was felt for a bit. I would suggest avoiding it if possible. Best of luck with it.

posturingpat · 27-09-2015 09:50PM

sean2591 wrote: »

For real or taking the piss with me?

Being deadly serious,he says he'll never do anything close to illegal again he was that scared during his time there. But others are saying you mightn't even be put in the prison proper(there's a big difference being caught with a ****load of coke and not paying fines) and hopefully that is the case but if not i'd do all i can to pay off whatever i owe.

mikedoherty99 · 27-09-2015 09:50PM

you'll be fine

FortySeven · 27-09-2015 09:56PM

sean2591 wrote: »

For real or taking the piss with me?

For real, the other thread posted had a few decent facts but to be honest, the POs have about 10% knowledge of what really goes on in prisons. If they had any idea there would be no drugs, no phones and no assaults. They just react. Usually too late.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 27-09-2015 10:01PM

The Governors name is Gordon.

Dan Chipowski · 27-09-2015 10:02PM

Let us know what Multiple Miggs says as you pass by him, eh.

starling · 27-09-2015 10:02PM

Don't know your circumstances OP but krazyklown raises a good point there about the effect on the rest of the family, it's worth thinking about that. Are there people close to you who will be losing sleep worrying about what's happening to you?

Not judging you but in fairness lots of people live with debt, and surely if you get to the stage of a custodial sentence there must have been a pattern of repeating whatever offences they were, no?

Brian from Bray · 27-09-2015 10:04PM

I wonder what percentage of the prison population in this country is made up of travellers ?

27-09-2015 10:06PM

Ellie2008 wrote: »

If you're in for fines you'll be in there a whole 5 minutes OP I wouldn't worry too much about it, in fact I heard in a lot of places they process you & then release you straight after.

And give you money to get a bus home.

sean2591 · 27-09-2015 10:06PM

krazyklown wrote: »

Unfortunately my brother had to go for a little 'holiday' for a driving offence almost five years ago. He got six weeks, served five and got Temporary Release for the last week. It was in the West of Ireland - he did three weeks in Castlerea in a campus inside the prison walls but not in the main prison. Basically, it was a group of houses, kind of like a college campus, with four bedrooms sharing two to a room. It was fairly relaxed, the visiting hours were more flexible than the main prison and you could hang out together in the yard. Surreal experience for our family as we have never been in that environment. He said the first night was terrifying - when he arrived at the prison he spent the night in a holding cell with a load of other guys who had just gone down (in court) and were fairly hyper. There were no beds only matresses on the ground and no toilets. Pretty grim stuff. The following day he was moved to the campus. He found he had to be on gaurd the whole time - as the newbie he was quizzed up and down; it was mostly travellers and he nearly got in a bit of trouble when he ended sitting at a table with the paedos which his housemates werent happy about. Seemingly, its social suicide on the inside. After a couple of days he settled a bit and felt relaxed enough. Ended up doing some training with one traveller who was awful keen to go sparring with my brother. He had a bare knuckle fight arranged for the day he was to be released and this was his training camp. My brother politely declined. Would have been massacred. The only hassle he had for fellas robbing stuff off him (cigarettes, confectionary) and eventually told us to stop bringing in stuff as he knew it would be taken on him.
He was then moved to an open prison in Loughlinstown in Cavan. This was basically like a boarding school for very low risk inmates. Literally you could walk out if you wanted - the gates were open during the day and they had classes in a nearby building (woodwork etc). He felt more unsafe here as again it was mostly travellers and with the shortage of gaurds there was a fair bit of intimidation. Drug use was rife in the place and my brother had the misfortune to bunk with a dealer. One day, when on his own, a guy came in and threatened to knife my brother if he didnt tell him where the dealer kept his stash. 'Ratting' was a big thing there - when my brother was granted temporary release (where you leave the prison and are confined to your home for the remainder of your sentence) he was confronted and challenged on who he 'ratted' on to get TR....
I think my brother adapted quite quickly and kept his head down, talked when he had to and tried to give as little away about himself as he could (didnt want anyone following him home!). Not a great experience for us as a family, had a big affect on my mother and the social stigma was felt for a bit. I would suggest avoiding it if possible. Best of luck with it.

Thanks for writing all that. Didn't think that prisons were like that here. Must have been rough on him. He wasn't in for fines though was he?

I don't live at home anymore. Wasn't going to say anything to the folks - just gonna say I was going away for a few days to cover it

DEFTLEFTHAND · 27-09-2015 10:06PM

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I wonder what percentage of the prison population in this country is made up of travellers ?

Careful now Brian.

27-09-2015 10:09PM

Brian from Bray wrote: »

I wonder what percentage of the prison population in this country is made up of travellers ?

Well if the OP brings his gates and power tools with him, they'll be nicked. But I suspect he won't, and the traveller population in remand will be a lot less troubling than the ones in for more serious offences. But even still, remand and fine defaulters sections are not known for violent crime.

Brian from Bray · 27-09-2015 10:10PM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Careful now Brian.

I'm genuinely wondering.

FortySeven · 27-09-2015 10:14PM

krazyklown is bang on the money. I never made it to an open prison thank god, much less secure for yourself. He makes a good point of 'being quizzed up and down' I was going to mention that the 'keeping your head down' most are suggesting is not an option. You will get the Spanish inquisition from inmates as they try to find out what you are in for. (You could be a pedo) Remember, everyone there is a liar so they will assume you are too. He describes the first night well too. Most inmates are addicts these days and they will be coming off various drugs, usually heroin. I had a padmate who didn't sleep for weeks and was the most nervous, jittery, scary fecker I ever had to deal with. Had a 5 hour standoff with him one night, he decided he was going to stab me with a pencil, I grabbed a coffee jar and we stood there for hours with everyone on the wing baying out the windows for something to happen. I didn't want to smash that jar in his face but if he'd come at me I would have, there is nowhere to run.

FortySeven · 27-09-2015 10:17PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Well if the OP brings his gates and power tools with him, they'll be nicked. But I suspect he won't, and the traveller population in remand will be a lot less troubling than the ones in for more serious offences. But even still, remand and fine defaulters sections are not known for violent crime.

Remand is the worst, it is a mix of everything including murder, serious assault etc. They have no release date so no incentive to behave. Also, there is more robbing to be done as they have more money and more stuff because they are technically innocent so treated differently. Once convicted and out of the remand jails, things settle down. There is that target of release.

krazyklown · 27-09-2015 10:24PM

sean2591 wrote: »

Thanks for writing all that. Didn't think that prisons were like that here. Must have been rough on him. He wasn't in for fines though was he?

I don't live at home anymore. Wasn't going to say anything to the folks - just gonna say I was going away for a few days to cover it

No worries. Didn't go in for fines - don't really want to be specific but prison was overkill for the motoring offence he committed (no accident/no one was hurt etc). He made a gaurd look very stupid and he paid a heavy price. Fortunately we found out afterwards that two prison officers from our area were keeping an eye on him and that helped to get him out of the holding cell. Funny I recall everyone telling us that with overcrowding etc he would serve little or no time. Didn't work out that way though. Like another poster suggested, it affected us quite deeply. I remember collecting him when he got out; really felt like a nightmare for all of us had finally ended.

27-09-2015 10:28PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Remand is the worst, it is a mix of everything including murder, serious assault etc. They have no release date so no incentive to behave. Also, there is more robbing to be done as they have more money and more stuff because they are technically innocent so treated differently. Once convicted and out of the remand jails, things settle down. There is that target of release.

Actually it's not really. In with serious sex offenders or murderers is far far worse. Know fellows who have done remand in a prison like Cork and laugh it off, though one or two have been threatened because they were in remand for pretty nasty stuff and it was found out.

chillin117 · 27-09-2015 10:33PM

You will be in/out in a few hours. I did a 3 and a 7 stretch (hours) for fines too. Did not get past the holding cell. Tell your ma to keep your dinner !

FortySeven · 27-09-2015 10:40PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Actually it's not really. In with serious sex offenders or murderers is far far worse. Know fellows who have done remand in a prison like Cork and laugh it off, though one or two have been threatened because they were in remand for pretty nasty stuff and it was found out.

Serious sex offenders in the UK are segregated even in court on rule 43, they have their own wings, own holding cells, own visits, own exercise areas etc. They are never mixed with gen pop. If they were the prison murder rate would go through the roof. Not sure how it is done here?

Remand is a mixed bag, everyone is thrown in together regardless of severity of crime. Once convicted prisoners are catagorised as per risk. Cat B is the norm. Cat A for murder, escapees etc. Cat C is the next with more priviliges, cat D is open prison. Cat A are the only ones to not go through the gen pop remand, they have to be fairly bad for that though.

While on remand I was padded up with a fella that kicked a guy to death and then tossed his body over a bridge, he laughed about it and passed the crime scene photographs around for everyone to admire. He got life later.

I've been on remand a few times and served 2 sentences.

starling · 27-09-2015 10:41PM

krazyklown wrote: »

No worries. Didn't go in for fines - don't really want to be specific but prison was overkill for the motoring offence he committed (no accident/no one was hurt etc). He made a gaurd look very stupid and he paid a heavy price. Fortunately we found out afterwards that two prison officers from our area were keeping an eye on him and that helped to get him out of the holding cell. Funny I recall everyone telling us that with overcrowding etc he would serve little or no time. Didn't work out that way though. Like another poster suggested, it affected us quite deeply. I remember collecting him when he got out; really felt like a nightmare for all of us had finally ended.

I would literally go insane for worrying if someone I knew went to prison, no matter what they said it was like I'd be afraid for them.

A youngfella near me who had some emotional problems and a troubled family life ended up in Mountjoy. He was no saint but what he did wasn't that serious. Teenage cry-for-help stuff. He was also quite a pretty boy and his experience in prison was something he never got over, he killed himself not that long after coming out. It was terrible, and I firmly believe in personal responsibility but that kid needed help, not regular beatings and rapes.

Sorry OP don't freak out, I'm not implying that your experience would be anything like that - this kid wasn't in for driving offences or non payment of fines and his case is nothing like yours I'm sure. I'm just mentioning it because it's the kind of thing that would be at the back of my mind the whole time if someone I cared about was in prison.

So I reckon it's good that you're not mentioning it to the family

JustAThought · 27-09-2015 10:43PM

You are in a whole different category if you spend time in prison to if you are convicted & have to pay a fine. Regardless of what you say to your folks, how do you think they will feel when someone, at sometime, googles your name & your conviction comes up - and that you were sentenced to prison. You can be stabbed or mugged or raped or worse - what money saved will compensate you for that? Not to mention countries that will never let you in once you've been in prison & jobs and companies that you will never be able to work for once you've been in prison. Its hardly an attractive characteristic in a person - how far do you think people will move from when you tell them nonchantly that you're an ex prisoner. Or when they find out and just start shunning you . Borrow the money & pay it & stay out & safe. Lifes too short for bringing that kind of trouble and stigma on yourself, and your family, and future family.

secondattempt · 27-09-2015 10:43PM

A prison officer told me recently that rape etc doesn't happen in Irish prisons just beatings.

Know anything about prison?

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