Heaven

DAY 134 THURSDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2001

I have mentioned the worthwhile role played by the Samaritans who train selected prisoners as Listeners. At NSC they have taken this trust one stage further and set aside a room where a pre-programmed mobile phone has been provided for inmates who need to call the Samaritans.

This service has become very popular, as more and more prisoners claim to be in need of succour from the Samaritans; so much so that Mr New recently became suspicious. After one particularly long call, which was interspersed with laughter, he confiscated the phone and quickly discovered what the inmates had been up to. They had been removing the Sim card from inside the phone and replacing it with one of their own that had been smuggled in.

As of today, there will no longer be a dedicated room for the Samaritans, or a mobile phone.

11.00 am

This will be my last labour board if I am to join Doug in the hospital next week. I therefore suggest to Carl that he should take charge as if I wasn’t there. During the rest of the morning, whenever a prisoner calls in with some problem, Carl handles it. My only worry is that as Carl has another fifteen months to serve before he’ll be eligible for a tag, he may become bored long before his sentence is up.

2.30 pm

Mr New calls Spring Hill to ask Mr Payne why my transfer is taking so long. He’s told that Spring Hill is about to face a public enquiry as a consequence of something that happened before he became governor. Mr Payne fears that the press will be swarming all over the place and although he is quite willing to have me, he can’t let me know his decision for at least another couple of weeks. I press Mr New for the details of what could possibly cause so much public interest but he refuses to discuss it. I wonder if it’s simply a ploy to keep me from being transferred. [12]

7.00 pm

I visit Leon in the north block. He has just come off the phone to his fiancée, still safely ensconced in Portsmouth with Leon’s brother. Sunita’s three Indian suitors have returned home accompanied by her mother, leaving her father in Bradford. Sunita has rung her father who has agreed to meet Leon. But he still doesn’t know that Leon is in jail and won’t be released for another three weeks.