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THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER As seen on This Morning Back in the day, I was Governor of Security and Operations for HMP Wormwood Scrubs. If you’re easily shocked or offended, you best look away now...
'My name is Ronnie Thompson. Being a prison officer was something I used to be proud of. I soon realised the truth of what it's like working as a screw, though. It's a fucking headache. Corruption, danger, violence. Welcome to my world.' Ronnie Thompson was just an ordinary guy. That is, until he became a prison officer. By the time he started work at HMP Romwell, he realised he was actually a nurse, a copper, a probation officer, a carer, a councillor, a social worker and, of course, an incarcerator all in one. Oh, and a punch bag for the cons and bosses. In SCREWED, Ronnie tells it like it is. He reveals what really goes on behind bars - the times when force is necessary and used, and when it is unnecessary but still used. He exposes the underworld of bent screws, the drugs they traffic, the firms they work for and what they get paid for their sins. He shows how it is left down to a small group of officers to control an over-flowing prison, keep an eye out for corrupt govenors, and dodge the deluded human rights campaigners. Ultimately, he shows us that being a good screw doesn't always mean sticking to the rules...
‘Extraordinary’ Daily Mail As seen on BBC Breakfast Horrifying, heartbreaking and eye-opening, these are the stories, the patients and the cases that have characterised a career spent being a doctor behind bars.
This Sunday Times bestseller is a shocking and at times darkly funny account of life as a prison officer in one of the country's most notorious jails. Neil Samworth's Strangeways reveals the stark reality behind HMP Manchester's notorious prison walls with an astonishing blend of audacity, humour, and empathy. A seasoned prison officer, Samworth weaves a gripping tale of endurance, underscoring the finesse necessary to navigate a world awash with formidable criminals and the tragically misunderstood. From tense face-offs with hardened gangsters and psychopaths to encounters with cell fires and rampant drug problems, Samworth opens a window into Britain's penal system. It's an intrepid journe...
'A memoir to shine a light in the darkest of nights . . . a story of redemption' – journalist Tony Parsons. Michael Maisey was excited the day he was locked up in the notorious Feltham Young Offenders Institute. He was going to be a legend to all his mates. The sixteen year old was in for attempted murder. He was innocent of this particular crime but amongst the violent and dangerous young men on his wing he was about to learn exactly how far he’d go to survive. In Young Offender we see what turned a good kid into a wanted criminal. Abused by his uncle, bullied at school, at the age of twelve he found the safety he craved in the ranks of a local gang in West London. He graduated from sho...
Unedited, uncensored and unbelievable: this book shows the harsh reality of life behind bars from a real prison governor who spares no details. How do you bring order to the lawless? The Secret Prison Governor has spent decades surrounded by every type of prisoner known to man, from petty thieves and street-level drug dealers to crime bosses and dangerous serial killers. Since starting as a rookie, he has experienced the reality of the UK's harsh prison system and the hard challenge of ruling those within it. In his own words, the Secret Prison Governor spares no detail of prison life, whether that's breaking up shiv fights, crushing vast underworld networks, negotiating with hostage-takers or dealing with full-scale cellblock gang wars. This is the truth of what life is like behind bars.
This is Alex Hanscombe's powerful, inspirational account as seen on This morning, BBC Breakfast, BBC Newsnight and published in The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday and The Sun. 'I was the most famous child in the British Isles...' A coming-of-age story that begins with tragedy but ends in understanding, forgiveness and peace. The stunning and heartbreaking story of the young son of Rachel Nickell - who witnessed the brutal attack on his mother and whose childhood was shaped by the media storm that followed. A coming-of-age story that begins with a tragedy but ends in optimism, forgiveness and peace. On a beautiful July morning in 1992, just three weeks before his third birthday, Alex Hanscombe ...
THE FASCINATING SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER Assaults. Riots. Cell fires. Medical emergencies. Understaffed wings. Suicides. Hooch. Weapons. It's all in a week's work at HMP Parkhurst. After 28 years working as a prison officer, with 22 years at HMP Parkhurst, once one of Britain's most high security prisons, David Berridge has had to deal with it all: serial killers and gangsters, terrorists and sex offenders, psychopaths and addicts. Inside Parkhurst is his raw, uncompromising look at what really goes on behind the massive walls and menacing gates. Thrown in at the deep end, David quickly had to work out how to deal with the most cunning and volatile of prisoners, and learn how to avoid...
If you think you know everything about the East End's toughest gangsters, think again. Meet Linda Calvey, aka the Black Widow. Growing up after the war in the East End of London, Linda falls in with local gangsters including the Krays, Freddie Foreman and Ronnie Cook. When the love of her life, Mickey Calvey, is gunned down on a job gone wrong, Linda resolves to carry on his work. But in 1990, after years of living in fear of her lover Ronnie Cook, Linda finds herself accused of his murder alongside Danny Reece, in a trial that shocks the nation. Still, Linda sticks to her code of honour, refusing to confess. Until now... After 18 years behind bars alongside notorious names including Rose West and Myra Hindley, she is released. This is the final truth about her life and what happened the day Ronnie Cook was murdered.