Roundabout Tales Three Stories of Prison Release
I’ll be back out there real soon, Actually it’s only just over four moon. I just hope I can make one person proud And be able to fit into a normal crowd.
Roundabout Tales – Three Stories of Prison Release This booklet, commissioned by VOICES, shares stories from the lives of three people, all of whom have served multiple prison sentences. The people (whose names have been anonymised), and the incidents in their lives, within this publication are based on the real lived experiences of men taking part in a series of drama workshops facilitated by Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation) in prison in 2021. Disclaimer: All names, addresses and numbers contained within the images and text of each of the stories in this document are fictional and not intended to imply similarity to real names, addresses or numbers.
Pete – Age 24
Pete is currently in prison serving a sentence of six months for shoplifting. The prison is aware of Pete’s previous use of various substances but due to the relatively short length of his sentence is unable to offer any comprehensive treatment. Pete has continued to use substances during his imprisonment – mainly NPS locally known as Mamba. Pete has no contact with his mother or father, but has intermittent contact with his maternal grandmother who sometimes gives him money. Pete is being released today having served three of his six month sentence. He will be on an unconditional license for the remaining three months of his sentence, together with a twelve month ‘topup’ supervision order. This means he will be required to report to probation upon release and attend regular meetings with his probation officer as required.
When are they letting me out?
Maybe in reception there’ll be someone I can get a lift off.
Here we go again.
Need to get some money.
Need to score.
no employment odation arranged, m m co ac no s ha Pete plan aside nse of any kind of arranged, and no se on release. ore some heroin up from a desire to sc
On the morning of his release he gets a phone number from another prisoner for someone to score from when he gets out.
Pete is released from prison at 9.30am. In his pockets he has a mobile phone with no charge and no credit, a travel warrant for use on the train, £65.48 in cash (made up of his discharge grant - £46, and the remaining money that was in his private cash which was money his grandmother had sent in.) Upon release, he sees two other prisoners who have just been released and they agree between them they should get a taxi to the Hinckley railway station. Rather than getting on the train straight away, Pete goes into a nearby cornershop and buys a four pack of K cider. He then makes his way into the town centre, drinking as he goes. He calls the number given to him in prison and agrees to meet in a side street. He scores a wrap of heroin. The dealer then sends him off in the direction of the nearest chemist that offers a needle exchange. Pete buys a pack of ten syringes and heads back to the station.
He goes into the pub next to the station and buys a pint of cider. He puts it on an empty table and heads off to the toilet. He injects his heroin, comes back, drinks his pint and then leaves for the station. He gets on a train to Birmingham. By the time he arrives at Birmingham it is too late to visit probation and instead he heads for one of his old haunts, in search of someone to score from as he has used all the gear he bought in Hinckley. All he has eaten during the day is a bag of crisps. Pete then spends the next two weeks living on the streets. He settles back into a familiar routine of shoplifting to get money to score. He fails to register with probation at any time and probation do not know his whereabouts. One day he is stopped outside a supermarket by a store detective who believes he has stolen some food. Pete threatens to stab the store detective with a needle. The police are called and he is arrested. Since Pete failed to register with probation upon release he is recalled to prison for breaching his license. Furthermore he is remanded in custody on new charges of shoplifting, threatening behaviour and possession of a bladed article. Pete receives a new sentence of 18 months of which he will serve nine.
What needs to happen to try and help Pete get free of his roundabout?
But still I worry about my mum and dad, And thinking about the relationship we’ve never had. But... Oh well there should still be time, As long as I can stop meddling in crime.
Mike – Age 42
Background - Mike has spent 22 years going in and out of prison. His offending is all related to his addiction to heroin. He has spent many years as a small time dealer who sells drugs to fund his own addiction and his bouts of prison are related to offences of intent to supply. Mike is registered disabled following involvement in two car crashes when he was in his late teens. He has never worked full time and has become dependent on ESA and PIP for income. Mike also has obsessive compulsive disorder and receives SSRI medication to reduce intrusive thoughts. Mike is currently serving a sentence of five years for Intent to Supply and Possession of an Offensive Weapon. He was caught in possession of a number of wraps of heroin which he was dealing to other users. He also had a kitchen knife in his jacket which he said was for his own protection. He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and has shown a willingness in prison to engage with the regime. During his time in prison he has worked with drug support staff in healthcare and been put on a Subutex maintenance programme which will continue when he is in the community. He is keen to stay out of prison. Whilst in prison he has maintained contact with his mother, brother and sister-in-law.
Mike finally gets out of prison at 12 noon on a Friday. He gets a taxi from the prison to the station and finally arrives in Birmingham at 3.15pm. He gets a bus from the station to the probation office in Perry Barr by which time it is 4pm. He then has to get to the local community drug team in Handsworth to get a prescription for Subutex. He manages to get this but the pharmacy where he needs to get his script, which is in Newtown, is shut by the time he gets there. He then makes his way back to Handsworth to find his B&B accommodation. Mike is just about keeping things together but is anxious about not having been able to get his Subutex. He goes out of the B&B and walks up the Soho Road. He is approached by someone who offers him some crack. Mike is feeling desperate now and scores. However, he catches himself before he smokes the crack and he calls an old acquaintance who might be able to help him out. Fortunately in this instance, his old acquaintance has some Subbies and agrees to swop the crack for the Subutex.
The following Monday, Mike is able to make his way to the pharmacy to get his prescription. Over the next few weeks, Mike has to visit the council everyday in order to get the funding for the B&B. This puts pressure on his body, exacerbates his injuries from the car crashes, and causes considerable pain. His GP prescribes Pregabalin to help with this, along with Cipramil for his OCD. His prescription for Subutex is maintained through his engagement with the community drug team.
Mike saves the remaining £400 over the next couple of months and pays off the debt which then permits him to start bidding on property. Living at the B&B is risky for Mike as he occasionally bumps into people he used to sell heroin to. They keep asking if he can get them something but he maintains his resolve to avoid slipping into old habits and refuses to respond to their requests. Fortunately (again) for Mike, a property soon becomes available in Newtown – an apartment in a small block of single occupancy units. He takes this and moves in.
Four months pass and Mike has not returned to his old ways. He feels good about this. One day, he has been out and returns to the flat. He decides he wants to make some chips so he puts a pan of oil on a low heat on the stove. He goes off into the living room, puts the TV on and starts watching. It’s been quite a busy day for Mike and he dozes off. He is awoken by the sound of the smoke alarm. He stumbles into the kitchen, which is full of smoke, and tries to extinguish the flames using a damp tea towel. He then takes the pan out into his back yard. A neighbour, having seen the smoke and hearing the alarm going off, calls the fire brigade. The fire brigade arrive quickly and make sure everything is OK. This incident is reported to the housing association that manages the block of flats. Concern is expressed that whilst in this instance no major damage occurred, there is an elderly resident living above Mike. In addition to this there have been reports of the smell of cannabis coming from his flat and the housing association decide it is not suitable for Mike to continue living there.
As a result Mike moves out and moves in temporarily with his sister in law. Around this time, he is assigned a new probation officer. Mike has never met this person but they hear about the incident with the chip pan and in view of the fact that he is not currently living at an approved premises, they recall him to prison for breaching the conditions of his license. Mike does not know how long he will be back in prison for. He feels bad about what happened with the chip pan fire but feels aggrieved that all his efforts to move away from his previous lifestyle are ignored.
What needs to happen to try and help Mike get free of his roundabout?
Yes I’ve got my eyes back, And there ain’t no way I’m going back to that one way track.
Rab – Age 34
Early on in his sentence he contacted his girlfriend to apologise for his behaviour. They agreed that they shouldn’t continue to be a couple but they would stay friends. Rab is due for release having served four years of his eight. His license conditions include weekly appointments with his probation officer, engagement with the community drug team who will be doing weekly drug and alcohol testing, and an additional condition to not meet or have contact with former known associates.
Rab is released from a prison near his home city so he takes a bus straight from the prison to see his probation officer. Here he goes through his licence conditions again and then makes his way to the CDT to arrange a prescription for Naltrexone which he is being prescribed as a blocker to help him stay clean. Since he doesn’t have a firm offer of any accommodation he has arranged to stay with his former girlfriend who is letting him stay temporarily until he gets his own place. His plan is to get employment as fast as he can as he sees this as the key to success.
The next day he goes to the Job Centre both to set up a claim for Universal Credit and to begin job searching. Rab wants to renew his CSCS card, which he does online and costs £36. In addition to his landscaping and tree work, he also has previous experience of fork lift truck work and so starts looking for work in this area. He also wants to get a Street works card for possible employment on road works etc. In the past he has worked very much ‘off the books’ for cash in hand. However, he now wants to do things legitimately and so this move represents a big change in his attitude.
The next few weeks go well, and he manages to pick up some warehouse shift work. This shift work varies, so some weeks he is on day shifts but other times he works evening shifts. As far as Rab is concerned this is fine. However, it means sometimes he needs to sleep during the day, which is a problem as he is in the living room at his girlfriend’s place and she wants to use the living room during the day. He wants to find a place through a private landlord but is still saving up to get enough money for a deposit. Tensions start to grow between Rab and his former girlfriend and one day they have a big argument. His girlfriend wants him out as soon as possible.
Rather than going back to his accommodation, he goes into the city centre, and makes his way to one of his old pubs. He knows he shouldn’t get a pint but at the same time he figures the Naltrexone will stop him wanting to drink as much as he used to. So he buys a pint. As he is sat alone at his table in walks an old friend – Tyrone - one of the men he used to do the burglaries with.
FADE IN: INT: A PUB, EARLY EVENING RAB SITS ALONE AT A TABLE WITH A PINT OF BEER. HE LOOKS TIRED. A MAN COMES INTO THE PUB AND ORDERS A BEER. AS HE DOES SO, HE LOOKS AROUND THE PUB AND NOTICES RAB. TYRONE Rab! RAB LOOKS UP FROM HIS DRINK AND RECOGNISES ONE OF HIS FORMER ASSOCIATES. RAB Tyrone. TYRONE APPROACHES RAB TYRONE When d’you get out? RAB A few weeks ago. TYRONE Oh mate…Hey, look, I was gonna write to you but you know how it is… What you drinking? RAB (RAB IS MINDFUL OF HIS LICENSE CONDITION BUT DOESN’T WANT TO OFFEND HIS OLD FRIEND.) It’s OK, you don’t have to. TYRONE I insist. I owe you.
RAB Go on then – get me a chaser. TYRONE GOES BACK TO THE BAR TO COLLECT HIS BEER AND ORDER A DRINK FOR RAB. AS HE IS DOING THIS, ANOTHER MAN ENTERS AND MAKES HIS WAY TO TYRONE AT THE BAR. KYLE Oy – Tyrone – where’s my money? TYRONE WALKS AWAY WITH THE DRINKS TOWARDS THE TABLE WHERE RAB IS SAT. TYRONE Fuck off Kyle, I don’t owe you anything. KYLE FOLLOWS TYRONE KYLE Are you taking the piss? You still owe me for that car I sold you. (LOOKING AT RAB) If you haven’t got the money, maybe your mate can sort it. TYRONE I gave the money to your brother last week. Now fuck off. KYLE LUNGES AT TYRONE AND THE TWO START TO FIGHT. RAB TRIES TO INTERVENE. THE FIGHT ENSUES. DURING THE FIGHT THE LANDLORD CALLS THE POLICE. DRINKS, TABLES AND CHAIRS GET KNOCKED OVER. RAB GETS HIT. TYRONE GETS KYLE ONTO THE FLOOR AND STAMPS ON HIS HEAD AND KICKS HIM IN THE FACE. KYLE IS UNCONSCIOUS. RAB PULLS TYRONE OFF. RAB Just leave it will you? Come on, we better go. RAB AND KYLE GO TO LEAVE THE PUB JUST AS THE POLICE ARRIVE. FADE OUT
CCTV footage shows that Rab was trying to break up the fight and so the police release Rab with no further action. However, in the opinion of his probation officer, Rab is breaking one of the conditions of his license by meeting with a former associate and as a result, recalls him to prison. Rab is gutted. This is not what he wanted. He feels all his effort is for nothing.
What needs to happen to try and help Rab get free of his roundabout?
Prison Discharge Consultation – Suggestions for improvements from those with lived experience All prisoners should be assigned a mentor upon release. During the height of the pandemic, anyone released from prison was provided with transport to the nearest railway station, free of charge and organised by the prison. Since restrictions have lifted this provision has ceased and prisoners are now left as they were, pre-Covid, to find their own way to the station. This service should be re-instated. Recent changes to legislation have raised the amount of the discharge grant from £46 (which had not changed for at least 30 years) to £76. However, this still only amounts to the equivalent of one week’s Job Seekers Allowance. The amount of the grant should be raised to be at least equivalent of two week’s JSA. All prisoners should be released with accommodation to go to. If a prisoner has lost their previous accommodation due to imprisonment, or they are unable to secure suitable (and safe) accommodation with family or friends, then they should be provided with accommodation upon release. This accommodation should meet the needs of individual prisoners and should not provide an environment which may increase the risk of relapse and/or re-offending. In view of the above, prisoners should be able to begin applying for accommodation BEFORE they are released. The same is true for beginning claims for Universal Credit, should that be necessary. The practice of releasing prisoners on a Friday should end. This has been the subject of a concerted campaign by NACRO. For further details see https://www.nacro.org.uk/best-chance/
Where there are schemes to support prisoners into accommodation upon release, these should apply to ALL prisoners. In the instance of one of our prisoners, he was informed that due to the fact that he was serving his full sentence in prison (following a recall), he would not be eligible for support as he was being released without a licence. All prisoners should be able to set up a bank account before release. This facility is possible although in the experience of those involved in these workshops, the provision is patchy. Similarly, prisoners should be provided with legally valid ID upon release if they have none. This is possible through provision of a CitizenCard but again, the ability for people to apply from within prisons was intermittent and there is a cost associated which not all prisoners may be able to afford, dependent on circumstances. Prisoners should be afforded all possible opportunities to apply for work BEFORE release. There are some examples of good practice in this respect. Inside Job, run by Beating Time is an opportunity offered to all prisoners who have between three and six months left to run on the custodial component of their sentence. They are asked if they have work to go to. If not, they are offered support with writing a CV and a letter of disclosure. In addition, employers are invited into the prison to interview potential candidates. Opportunities available include railway work, jet blasting, construction, demolition, deliver drivers, warehouse work and customer service roles. Other job opportunities are offered by companies such as The Bell Group, but again, provision is not available in all prisons. At the very least, prisoners should be able to apply for a CSCS card whilst in prison. The role of the probation officer needs revision. Older members of the group remember a time when the role of the probation
officer was to support and enable people coming out of prison. Some talked about having good relationships with their probation officers. They all felt that the modern probation service is focused far too much on surveillance and monitoring with no offer of support. Prisoners coming out of prison want a probation officer who treats each person as an individual rather than a ‘typology’, someone who is willing to give credit to people for being honest and above all, to understand that all people have their own stories which are particular to them.
Credits Workshop facilitators were Saul Hewish and Tom Mellor, with additional input from Emily Andrews Design is by Print Garage Commissioned by VOICES. This work was made possible by the National Lottery Community Fund. Special thanks to those men taking part in the workshops, and to Sharon Sharman, Lee Dale, and Stephen Willis at VOICES for their feedback and guidance throughout the process. Produced by Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), 2021