right moment, then I pounced. I hit him five or six times in a blind spot by the showers then just left him on the floor and went back to my cell and banged up. Five minutes later, the screws came in for me.
I denied hitting anyone.
The cleaner vanished and a new one took his place. Then Dougie Wakefield arrived. He got life for killing his uncle with a pitchfork. He was moved from another prison for the attempted murder of a screw. It was our first encounter, but it was the beginning of a long friendship. Dougie was facing years of hell and he knew it. I was facing years of hell but I never knew it.
Dave Anslow was the next to arrive. Dave had been in the control unit at Wakefield for six months. He was from Dudley in the West Midlands – fit, strong and fearless. They decided to let us out on the yard together. He was the first con I’d really mixed with for months. It was a treat. I respected Dave so much; he and his brothers, Eric and John, all became loyal friends of mine. I called them the Dudley Firm.
Dave and myself were getting pissed off with all the solitary so we decided to put something together. We plotted up and went to work. Our cells were next to each other. When we heard the eleven o’clock chime in the night, that was when we were going to execute our plan. On the last chime, I picked up my iron bed and began ramming it into the door. After a good 30 or 40 smashes the spy-hole casing was gone, the hinges were loose, the whole thing was breaking up. The plan was crazy, but that’s how we were … smash the doors off, grab some screws and go home!
Nothing’s that simple!
I could hear Dave’s door, every thud rocking the walls. The whole fucking jail must have woken up.Soon the screws turned up, some in uniform, some in civvies. There was the Governor, too, and there were dogs. We weren’t going anywhere!
They went to Dave’s door first. They shouted at him, ‘Right, Anslow, stand back. We’re coming in.’ Next thing I heard a scuffle, shouts and Dave being carried away. It was a good 20 minutes before it was my turn. There was no warning; it was just bang, smash and they were in.
I ended up in a strong box at the other end of the jail, a box that had been out of use for years. When they slung me in and slammed the door it was total blackness. I could smell dampness and dust. I could feel lumpy things under my feet – dead cockroaches. The place had the smell of decay. I was itching, I felt dirty. I had a good seven hours in pitch darkness before they unlocked me.
It felt like the longest seven hours of my life. Dave had been put in the block box, but this box was the fucking pits!
When the door opened in the morning, I attempted to rush out. I was shouting, ‘I can’t fucking breathe!’
I battled with them, my head was gone completely. They grabbed me, bent me up and slung me back in! For two days I endured this hell-hole, and I can honestly say it was the worst pit I’ve ever had to climb out of.
Soon after, I was moved again – another mystery tour in the back of a van. I went to Wakefield and Dave and Dougie were moved to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. I got my charge dropped from GBH on Gallagher, pleading guilty to unlawful wounding. I received another nine months. As I left Hull Crown Court, I didn’t even bother to ask where the van was going. I just sat there thinking. The strange thing was, nobody knew then that three years later Gallagher would be released and would kill four people. He waslater sent to Broadmoor for the rest of his natural days. If I had killed the scumbag, four people would be alive today. But who can see into the future?
From the second I entered Wakefield top-security unit, I knew I would not last. The reception screws told me I was going straight into the block. When I asked them why, they just smiled and said, ‘The Governor will tell you tomorrow.’
I went mad. ‘Bollocks,’ I said. ‘I want to know now, not tomorrow!’
They surrounded
I denied hitting anyone.
The cleaner vanished and a new one took his place. Then Dougie Wakefield arrived. He got life for killing his uncle with a pitchfork. He was moved from another prison for the attempted murder of a screw. It was our first encounter, but it was the beginning of a long friendship. Dougie was facing years of hell and he knew it. I was facing years of hell but I never knew it.
Dave Anslow was the next to arrive. Dave had been in the control unit at Wakefield for six months. He was from Dudley in the West Midlands – fit, strong and fearless. They decided to let us out on the yard together. He was the first con I’d really mixed with for months. It was a treat. I respected Dave so much; he and his brothers, Eric and John, all became loyal friends of mine. I called them the Dudley Firm.
Dave and myself were getting pissed off with all the solitary so we decided to put something together. We plotted up and went to work. Our cells were next to each other. When we heard the eleven o’clock chime in the night, that was when we were going to execute our plan. On the last chime, I picked up my iron bed and began ramming it into the door. After a good 30 or 40 smashes the spy-hole casing was gone, the hinges were loose, the whole thing was breaking up. The plan was crazy, but that’s how we were … smash the doors off, grab some screws and go home!
Nothing’s that simple!
I could hear Dave’s door, every thud rocking the walls. The whole fucking jail must have woken up.Soon the screws turned up, some in uniform, some in civvies. There was the Governor, too, and there were dogs. We weren’t going anywhere!
They went to Dave’s door first. They shouted at him, ‘Right, Anslow, stand back. We’re coming in.’ Next thing I heard a scuffle, shouts and Dave being carried away. It was a good 20 minutes before it was my turn. There was no warning; it was just bang, smash and they were in.
I ended up in a strong box at the other end of the jail, a box that had been out of use for years. When they slung me in and slammed the door it was total blackness. I could smell dampness and dust. I could feel lumpy things under my feet – dead cockroaches. The place had the smell of decay. I was itching, I felt dirty. I had a good seven hours in pitch darkness before they unlocked me.
It felt like the longest seven hours of my life. Dave had been put in the block box, but this box was the fucking pits!
When the door opened in the morning, I attempted to rush out. I was shouting, ‘I can’t fucking breathe!’
I battled with them, my head was gone completely. They grabbed me, bent me up and slung me back in! For two days I endured this hell-hole, and I can honestly say it was the worst pit I’ve ever had to climb out of.
Soon after, I was moved again – another mystery tour in the back of a van. I went to Wakefield and Dave and Dougie were moved to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. I got my charge dropped from GBH on Gallagher, pleading guilty to unlawful wounding. I received another nine months. As I left Hull Crown Court, I didn’t even bother to ask where the van was going. I just sat there thinking. The strange thing was, nobody knew then that three years later Gallagher would be released and would kill four people. He waslater sent to Broadmoor for the rest of his natural days. If I had killed the scumbag, four people would be alive today. But who can see into the future?
From the second I entered Wakefield top-security unit, I knew I would not last. The reception screws told me I was going straight into the block. When I asked them why, they just smiled and said, ‘The Governor will tell you tomorrow.’
I went mad. ‘Bollocks,’ I said. ‘I want to know now, not tomorrow!’
They surrounded
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