Random Zero's Ramblings

just heard from the solicitor that andrew is coming out today and they are dropping all charges.

will be staying at mine if anyone wants to visit.

about fudging time.

I requested, mainly due to being told i wasn’t allowed to visit my brother with my steel toecap boots, a large amount of info which i will be analysing shortly.

here it is in raw form.

whole actual

letter

canteen list

dress code act

facilities list

of particular interest are the canteen list to show how much prisoners pay for certain items, dress code for visitors and facilities list.

back soon to compare prices with a leading supermarket.

Visited my brother for the first time on saturday and it was not fun!!!

firstly i nearly didn’t get in because of my rigger boots!! these are not allowed so here is a list of clothing that  isn’t permitted.

Sports tops

hoodies

jumpers or cardigans with pockets.

coats in the visiting room.

Work boots or steel toe caps.

welingtons.

in bullingdon as i am sure it is true elsewhere you may only bring your locker key and food vouchers for the canteen to the visit. anything other than this is to be left in a locker.

mobile phones are considered escape equipment anf if you try to get them into the hall you can face 5 years in prison.

my mother who is disablerd really struggled with the walk as it is a huge distance. she was allowed a wheelchair but would of had to self propelled it which she is not strong enough to do. i will be looking into the options regarding this.

additional info in relation to the visit.

allowed upto £15 in vouchers to spend in the canteen but prisoners cannot take it back to their cells.

when prisoners recieve packages they have to apply for them. post is not given automatically.

the bed sheets are aweful and my brother is having an illergic reaction to them. we are not allowed to send replacements.

postal system is very scetchy at best in the prison and some things can take over a week to reach them.

when on a order (suicide watch) prisoners are allowed nothing bar a tv to entertain, are not allowed to work and are just left in their cells and checked every hour!! what a load of shit, i know this person is depressed so lets take every distraction away from them and let them wallow in self pity.

i hope this helps.

there are a few ways to keep in contact with those in prison.

writing to them and posting it

email a prisoner

texting

as i described the written contact in my last post i will explain the email and texting services.

the above sevices are offered through https://www.emailaprisoner.com/

if you register with the site, it gives you the ability to email via their site and also to text.it costs 30p per message for email and 35p plus network charges for a text. the prisoner then gets the letter the next day.

this is substantially cheaper than using Royal Mail and works on a topup based system. it is very simple to use and the site is very self explanitory.

to setup your account you will need to have the persons prisoner number and also the prison they are in.

the prisoner cannot however reply although this system is being rolled out as we speak.

I setup the email function for me and registered my mothers mobile (as she isn’t as pc literate as myself) so we can email or text every day and although it isn’t 2 way it is a comfort for both us and him.

all in all a brilliant site.

as you may know from my introduction, my brother is currently remanded in custody at Bullingdon prison.

we have really struggled to get information on how to contact him, what we can send and how to visit so i am going to list this in public domain, so that hopefully it will help others not go through the pain we did.

1. Get The Persons Prisoner Number

We were trying to arrange a visit and couldn’t because we had no prisoner number for him so complete the following steps…

call the general number for the prison

this number can be found on http://www.justice.gov.uk/global/contacts/noms/prison-finder/

and ask for their prisoner number.

2. get on their approved visitors list

when soneone is on remand they are allowed 3 nr 1 hour visits per week. to do this they need to approve you to visit.

when convicted persons can get 2 nr 1 hour visits per 4 weeks.

they need your address, name and DOB.

3. call the visiting line – book in advance

we have had loads of trouble getting through to the visiting line for my brother. it is constantly busy so my advice is to start calling when the line opens and keep calling till you get through. it took me nearly 1 hour 40 mins the first tim.

most prisons also book upto 2 weeks in advance so call early for weekend spots.

you will also need their prisoner number.

the visiting line information is on the formentioned site

4. Money

money is essential to prisoners for tobacco, phone credit etc. when in prison and working they get a £10 per week allowance. when not working or on remand they get £2.50.

the amount the prisoners are allowed to spend varies from prison to prison and between when they are on remand and when convicted. this information can be obtained from the prison direct so call on the main number.

You must include your name and address when sending money to them and include their name and prisoner number on both the envelope and the letter.

If you do not include your name and address it will delay the money.

Formats to send money including delay times.

Cash – no delay, paid in on receipt

Postal order – no delay, paid in on receipt

Cheque – must wait for clearance and they only pay them in 1 day a week so possibly 2 weeks delay.

the address of the prison is on the link in this blog

5. Clothing

when on remand most prisons allow prisoners to wear their own clothes.

They must bear no resemblance to guards uniforms

Most clothing allowed

no logos, branded clothing, or gang colours allowed.

no trainers or shoes are allowed to be sent

Send to address to follow and include the same details as in the cash section above

clothing for courts is permitted ie shirts, trousers etc.

each prison has slight variations on this so call to check.

i will follow with contact options in a further post