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Third, I remind them that Ted Francis, the man who sold his story to the News of the World for fourteen thousand pounds, still owes me twelve thousand I’d like it back
The lawyers promise to follow up all these matters However, they consider the reinstateo to the Isle of Wight their first priorities
I ask Ramona to take the next five days of what I’ve written and hand the script over to Alison for typing up Ramona leaves our little room to ask the duty officer if he will allow this He turns down her request Alex suggests I hold onto the script until I’ve been transferred to a less security-conscious prison He also advisesuntil after my appeal has been considered I warn them that if I lose my appeal and continue to keep upa million words
On the hour, an officer appears to warn us that our ti to deal with the probleht immediately
While I’et into conversation with a Greek Cypriot called Nazraf who is on re his wife in a e I repeat his story here with the usual govern Nazraf tells me that he locked his wife in the car for her own safety because he was at the tie sum of cash from his place of work to a local bank He’s in the restaurant business and for several years has been very successful,an annual profit of around £200,000 He adds with some considerable passion that he still loves his wife, and would prefer a reconciliation, but she has already filed for divorce
Nazraf coent man, so I have to ask him why he isn’t out on bail He explains that the court demanded a sum of £40,000 to be put up by at least four different people, and he didn’t want his friends or business associates to know that he was in any trouble He had always assumed that the moment he was sent to jail, his ould coo and she hasn’t budged The trial takes place in mid-September…
This is all I could find out before ere released fro room to continue on our separate paths – I to Block One, Nazraf to Block Four His final destination also puzzles me, because Block Four usually houses terrorists or extreain, but I have a feeling I never will
600 pm
Supper Provisions have arrived fro on the end of my bed I settle down to a plate of tinned Spaestive biscuits and finally aof blackcurrant juice, topped up with Evian water What more could a man ask for
800 pm
Association I aroup of ‘more mature’ prisoners – at sixty-one I am by far the oldest, if not thein Fletch’s cell Other attendees include Tony (marijuana only), Billy (murder), Colin (GBH) and Paul (murder)
Like any well-run board enda First we discuss the hours we are permitted to be out of our cells, and how Mr Marsland has made conditions more bearable since he became the senior officer Fletch considers that relations between the two parties who live on different sides of ‘the iron barrier’ are far more tenable – even amicable – than at any ti about a particular warder, who I haven’t yet co to Colin, he treats the prisoners like scum, and will put you on report if you as much as blink in front of him He’s evidently proud of the fact that he’s put more people on report than any other officer, and that tells you all you need to know about hiests
I decide to observe this man from a distance and see if Colin’s complaint is justified Most of the officersa cal froain inofficer, lead to violence Colin, I fear, is quick to wrath, and doesn’t need to take another step backwards, just as things are going a little better for him
The next subject the committee discuss is prison finance Tony reports that the Governor, Hazel Banks, has been given a bonus of £24,000 for bringing Belmarsh Prison costs down by four hundred thousand Hardly sorumble about However, Paul feels the money would have been better spent on inmates’ e
ducation and putting electricity into the cells I have no idea if these figures are accurate, but Tony confirms that he checked them in Sir David Ramsbotham’s (head of the prison service) annual review