#inmate62763

[inmate62763]

Hi everyone.

Sorry you've not seen or heard much from me this week. I've just been crazy busy with stuff and not had chance to properly sit down, get online and post things to my blog.

Will be back to normal next week (hopefully!!) 😵‍💫🤯

Best wishes from Ashley 62763.

[inmate62763]

What different types of prison uniform do you find in UK prisons? Can you wear your own clothing too in there?

Hi. This could be quite a long answer with several photos attached to make it easier to explain if that's okay. I was in prison in the UK about 8 years ago and things do change but when I was in we were still wearing HMP prison issue clothing in the prison I was in. Personally my clothing was HMP stripe shirt and prison issue denim jeans, also had a green t-shirt and the grey tracksuit sweatpants and sweatshirts. You could mix and match what you wore.

In other UK prisons the prison issue stuff could vary somewhat and i will give some examples further down this answer using photos. Also regarding wearing your own clothing, yes in recent times that has become more of a thing that happens in quite a few prisons. Sometimes you need to be on a higher (Enhanced) IEP incentive and earned privileges level or sometimes everyone wears their own clothes but there are certain restrictions such as no hoodies, nothing with offensive slogans and words, no sports team kit, no belts and nothing with too much black & white in it as they were the staff uniform colours. Screws in UK prisons usually wear black & white uniforms. But when I was in prison several years ago we still had to wear prison issue clothing back then. Here are a few examples of what prisoners in UK prisons typically would be issued and wear....

Prison issue grey tracksuit, sweatpants and sweatshirt or t-shirt.

Prison issue jeans with either the HMP prison stripey shirt or with a sweatshirt / jumper.

Prison issue jeans with a t-shirt. Usually green or burgundy red but could be other colours too such as light blue sometimes.

Green trousers with grey sweatshirts or t-shirts.

Or in more rarer circumstances the HMP escape suits (e-suit) used for high risk / dangerous prisoners. Could either be a jumpsuit or 2 piece and would either be green & yellow or blue & yellow.

Hope these descriptions help and thanks for the question.

[inmate62763]

Hi everyone. I always apologise if my blog has been quiet for a while. Sorry ive been missing for a couple of weeks. Had a few very short notice and unexpected issues going on in my personal life. I have just started to post some things on my blog again and will get around to replying to comments and messages.

Sorry that my blog has been so quiet over the past couple of weeks. I suppose I should be put on a inmate disciplinary report and charge lol 😆 but I will plead 'not guilty' as there were extenuating circumstances.

Best wishes from 62763. Ashley.

[inmate62763]

When you were in prison were there cctv cameras in your cell? What security measures were there in your cell?

Hi. Thanks for the question. No not when I was in prison No there were no cctv cameras in the cells. Obviously in all the communial areas of the prison there were cameras everywhere but not in the actual cells. The only cells I can think of that I've been in that had cctv cameras were the cells at the police station, the holding cells at court and the temporary holding cell at the prison reception/intake area. My actual cell in the prison didn't have cctv coverage in it.

Even without cctv in the cell, screws and other prison staff can look in whenever they wanted and randomly at any time by obviously just unlocking my door and walking in or more usually if there was no need to unlock my door then they could open up the little viewing window slot which is cut into the cell door and look in. That's what normally would happen if a officer needed to look inside, they would just open up the window slot in my cell door, look inside and then close my window slot, lock it up shut and move on to the next cell.

As for cell security, my cell was quite typical of what you find it a lot of the older built British prisons like I was in. Manually operated cell doors locked and unlocked with keys and I had the standard type of spring loaded lock, bolt and outer handle on my cell door. There was no handle or anything on the inside of my cell door. My cell door also had a viewing window slot that i mentioned before but unless they accidentally left it open then i couldn't see through that as it was normally closed shut and locked up from the other side. There was also a little circular hole with a yellow plastic plug in it cut into the door called a inundation point, lt allows staff to spray water or other substance into the cell without opening the door in times of riots for example.

The main window in the back wall of my cell was barred over and then had a layer of wire mesh over the bars which was the standard design at the prison I was in. Couldn't see much out of the window but there wasn't much to see anyway as my cell backed onto a little courtyard area where the refuse / wheelie bins were kept.

Other things you could describe as security features were the table and bed were fixed to the wall, the light in my cell had a wire grill over it to stop breakages and also as a security and safety feature there was a emergency alarm button (better have a good reason for pressing that or you would find yourself on a disciplinary). The panel that had the alarm button also had a plug / shaver socket and a light switch for the light in my cell but the light can be overridden by staff from outside the cell.

Sorry, quite a long answer but that was the best way to explain it and I hope that answers your question.

Best wishes from 62763.

[inmate62763]

Hello mate. Just curious as to what those little yellow circular things are you see on a lot of cell doors that they use in British prisons?

Hi. I know the thing you are asking about. It's called a INUNDATION POINT. It's a round metal or plastic plug in the cell door that can be removed with a special slot type of key and once the plug is removed then a water hose or other device can be aimed through the small hole where the plug was. It's main function is if there is disorder, riot or for instance maybe a arson attempt in the cell then officers can spray water or other controlling substance into the cell.

You tend to find inundation point plugs in the older style cell doors which you still have in lots of UK prisons whereby the cell doors are locked and unlocked manually with keys rather than from a central control point. The older design cell doors usually open inwards so it's possible for a prisoner to attempt to barricade themselves in the cell so the inundation point is useful if officers can't open or don't want to open the cell door but still need to spray a substance into the cell. That is the main function of it and thinking back to my time in prison i actually do not remember them needing to be used very often. Hope that answer helps. I will attach a photo of the usual type of cell door in UK prisons you find them on.

The inundation point plug is the yellow circle just under the observation window slot and next to the lock and bolt.

[inmate62763]

HMP life in British prisons. In HMP prison uniform clothing. The HMP stripey shirt and prison issue denim jeans. Exactly what I normally wore when I was inside a few years ago. Sometimes I wore the prison issue green t-shirt instead and sometimes the HMP grey tracksuit / sweats as we were issued all combinations but i didn't like the grey tracksuits much so normally I was in the shirt and jeans uniform.

These days you can wear items of your own clothing with certain restrictions in quite a few UK prisons but back when I was doing time in the prison I was at it was still HMP uniform issue as standard requirement.

Clothing issue i got issued was: 1x short sleeve HMP prison stripe shirt, 1 x long sleeve HMP prison stripe shirt, 2 x green t-shirts, 2 x HMP prison blue denim jeans, 2 x grey sweatpants, 1 x grey sweatshirt, 5 x white boxer shorts, 5 x white socks, 1 x wolly hat, 1 x outdoor jacket. Belts were not allowed. You could end up getting more stuff over time through official and unofficial means but that's what we were issued to start off with.