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Day 12

Monday 30 July 2001

603 am

Overslept, but then woken by the Alsatians off on theirrounds They are every bit as reliable as an alarm clock, but not as cheerful or optimistic as a cockerel I put on a tracksuit, sit down at my desk and write for two hours

810 am

A bowl of cornflakes with UHT gled out of the canteen I sit on the end of the bed and wait to see what fate has in store for me

1000 am

I’trek to a different part of the building This tie square room about the same size as the chapel, but ashed, unadorned brick walls The first person I recognize is Fletch, who is seated next to a prison officer behind a trestle table at the top of the rooer

The work rooth, with prisoners seated on both sides roup consists of four in with all the ingredients necessary to make a cup of tea In the centre of the table placed between us are large plastic buckets heaped with small packets At the bottom end of the table sits a silent Serb, who places four sachets of sugar in each bag and then pushes his contribution across the table to a Lebaneseon to an ins, before it’s passed over to e open bucket at my end of the table

Every fifteen minutes or so another prisoner, whose name I never discover, co exercise continues for approximately two hours, for which I will be credited with two pounds in my canteen account

The Serb (sugar) who sits at the other end of the table is, I would guess, around thirty He’s unwilling to discuss anything except the fate of ex-President Miloševic, and the fact that he isn’t cooperating with the European Court in the Hague He will not talk about his crith of his sentence

Ali, the LebaneseHe’s been found guilty of ‘breach of trust’ Ali tells me that he worked for a well-known credit-card coer of a London branch During that time he became infatuated with an Ah-maintenance, and used to the sort of lifestyle he couldn’t afford Ali began to borrow (his words) ht He would then take her to a casino, where they would have a freethe tables If he won, he would put theIf he lost, he would borrow even ht he won £5,000 and returned every penny the following day

By the tiirlfriend had dumped him and flown back to the States, Ali had ‘borrowed’ £28,000 He decided to co the company that it was his intention to repay every penny

Ali then sold his house, cashed in his life-insurance policy, pawned a few valuables and reied with breach of trust, and last Friday sent down for eighteenseven months and is due to be transferred to Ford (D-cat) next week He is fifty-three, an intelligent and articulate man, who accepts that he will never be able to work in this country again He plans to go to Ain a new life

My forie Peppiatt, the Crown’s main witness in my case, ad evidence at my trial In her case she wasn’t able to explain how thousands of pounds went e and say, ‘I have done things I am ashamed of, but it was the culture of the time’ I have recently asked my solicitor to place the full details in the hands of the police and see if she is subject to the saorous inquiry as I was You may well know the answer by the time this book is published