He was now able to socialise more, with less restrictions to confinement, in this way he could gradually learn to appreciate honesty and communication with other inmates.
This growing mutual acceptance would hopefully lead to a better sense of self-acceptance and he could become more and more interactive at longer periods.
His new-found friend was Sam Bentley; a tall heavily-built back man, who had served three years of his eight-year sentence. He was a physically strong man but with an unexpected gentleness and kindness which attracted Bell.
He had been convicted for a string of rapes on elderly women in high-rise blocks of flats in Birmingham. He would follow them into the elevators and rape them on the top floor after carrying them two flights further to the roof of the building. He told Bell it was the best place for a rape as a tall residential building is normally surrounded and separated by a busy road system and stood out like an isolated island where their screams went undetected by the noise of the traffic below.
Bentley was living in such a block within the cluster of high-rise buildings where he could freely watch the old ladies enter the building and knew how to move from one building to the other. With so many inhabitants, the flats were visited by many people, most of them unknown or unfamiliar, and attracting little attention.
With him being familiar with the elevators, passageways and service doors typical of these buildings, he found easy pickings on the streets in the sky.
Although he did not murder or inflict injury to his victims, he left fingerprints at the scene and was soon identified due to a previous conviction when he tried to rape a 60-year-old woman as she left the local library in Birmingham.
Another mate of Bell’s was Donald Sanderson, he was a tall, thin guy, quiet and unassuming and apart from contact with Bell, kept himself to himself. He was a 52-year-old loner who attempted to rape flight stewardesses on stopovers while he was an airline pilot for British Airways. His two year sentence resulted in a divorce which he had trouble coming to terms with, and was on constant suicide watch by the screws.
Mickey Nelson, the guy in the cell opposite from Bell, refused to have any contact with anyone. At meal times he would take his tray to his cell and never gathered on the open landings with the other inmates. Bell would listen to him crying himself to sleep every night, probably recalling his crimes he had committed or the isolation he found hard to endure.
He had kidnapped a hitchhiker on the Yorkshire moors, drove her to his remote house on the outskirts of Hull where he beat, raped and strangled her. He then stripped her of her clothes and wore them while his victim hung from a hook on the back of the kitchen door, where he sliced off her left breast. The same night he disposed of her naked body in the River Humber.
His other victim endured a similar fate. A salesman came to his door where he knocked him unconscious with a baseball bat, stripped him and tied him to a hook on the garage ceiling. When he regained consciousness, Nelson buggered and sexually assaulted him and cut off his penis with a Stanley knife before strangling him and dumping his body in the River Humber at the same spot as his previous victim. He kept his penis in his refrigerator alongside the woman’s amputated breast as trophies.
His crime spree went undetected for two years when it came to an abrupt end after his nephew called to his house unexpectedly and found the severed feet and hands from a victim along with a skeleton he had hung on the shower hose. The skeleton had been his third victim. He admitted on his arrest to have eaten some of the victims flesh after seasoning it with salt and pepper and tomato sauce. His nephew called the police who were waiting to arrest Nelson on his return home. That was the end of his career of slaughter and he was given a life sentence.
The new wing housed an array of offenders, not all were categorised as psychopathic murderers, some were known to have severe personality disorders, but to Bell there was little difference as he freely mingled among all categories on a daily basis.
The move to the new wing was not only to offer Bell a cleaner and quieter environment; it was also for the conditioning of a possible early release to the outside world after an assessment of his behaviour.
The recent move to this more relaxed environment was a formal conditioning through the official punishments and rewards.
Bell was not considered to be as aggressive or manipulative as he had been in the outside world. His freedom on the new wing was constantly under supervision by specially trained officers who would study his response and general behaviour to the lavish rewards he was offered.
The rewards ranged from cigarettes and ice cream, to visits to the cinema, trips to town and coach trips to the coast.
On constant assessment of Bell’s attitude to the rewards given, the authorities of the prison filed for a parole hearing, which would be attended by a psychiatrist, the prison doctor, his social worker and the governor. Should these official bodies be in agreement to his early release, it had to be finalised by the Home Office due to the severity of the crimes he had committed.
Bill was informed of his possible early release on a visit from his social worker that explained the role he must play at the tribunal, as much of the board’s decision would be based on his current state of mind and attitude throughout the hearing.
Bill was pleased with the news but apprehensive at the thought of surviving in the outside society to which he may shortly return, as for the past twelve years he had only been in the company of hardened criminals.
He was given one week to prepare himself for the tribunal and the reality of the situation that possibly faces him on the outside. Just getting out of prison, out of close confinement excited him and was worth looking forward too, but he inwardly feared the change, as the past twelve years inside were far different to the pace of life on the outside.
Bell did not have a family to accommodate him, his mother had died which left only his sister, but her husband would never have him enter their home, so he would need to look for lodgings and have interviews for jobs which began to worry him as he had become familiar with the ordinary prison conditions and felt safe and secure with the inmates.
Over the next few days, he concentrated on the hope of a successful hearing and dreamed of being a law-abiding citizen.
Being in debt when he entered prison meant there were no funds on the outside. Although he would receive a small amount of money on his release, it would demand considerable strength of character to build up a new existence from such a very slender foundation, which Bell realised could be a real and serious problem unless his sister was in a financial position to assist in the short term.
The following Monday morning, Bell prepared himself for the tribunal and was escorted by two officers and his social worker to the governor’s office for the parole tribunal. On entering the room, he smiled at the panel of officials as he sat at the one chair facing them.
They talked among themselves as they deliberated their outcome and bombarded Bell with an abundance of pressured questions as a test to his pending release to the outside community.
He returned to his cell flanked by the two officers and laid on his bed feeling exhausted after his ordeal. He had come to terms with the thought of spending his entire sentence in the care of the prison authorities should the outcome of the hearing not be successful, as the thought of an existence on the outside did not seem as attractive as he had first thought.
The next day his social worker entered his cell and issued Bell with a letter containing details of the outcome of the previous days tribunal, stating that his application for parole had been unsuccessful.
He smiled at the social worker as he looked around the floral patterned cell then reached out, emotionally holding on to his social worker.
It wasn’t all bad news, his case would be reviewed in two years and in the meantime, he would be transferred to an open prison in Buckinghamshire the following day.
He spent his last night in Strangeways visiting his fellow inmates. Bell was sad to be
leaving his long-term friends and the strange sense of security he had found behind the high walls, yet inwardly he was excited at the prospect of spending time in a less hostile and suppressed atmosphere.
He travelled the four hour journey with three other inmates who had also had their parole refused, but they were unknown to Bell, being from different wings. They were each locked in individual cabins in the transfer vehicle with only one toilet stop throughout the journey.
Bell was looking forward to his next two years, and maybe longer, in a favoured open prison after the years he had spent in overcrowded, sub-human conditions which he had thought of as ‘legally controlled suffering’.
As the vehicle arrived at the open prison, the three disembarked flanked by the two security guards who had accompanied them on the journey. Bell looked around at the open aspect of the building, resembling more of a hotel than an institution of correction, but the reception on arrival was far from the polite and welcoming approach given at a hotel check-in.
‘This place can be heaven or hell, Bell, it just depends on you,’ the receiving officer said. ‘If you behave yourself it’s heaven, if you misbehave, we will make it hell for you,’ he said, as he flicked through his file.
It was a lovely sunny day when Bell arrived, and he thought this was a good omen. The building was modern and clean, well-lit and comfortably furnished. Trees and gardens surrounded the prison. The cells were now known as ‘blocks’ and looked out on to a courtyard. He was taken to an administration ward and met by a doctor and a social worker. He was weighed and his height measured and told to undress and get into a bath. The doctor, social worker and screws stood watching him all the time.
The atmosphere was heavy with the staff presence, deliberately designed to have a psychological effect of intimidation and control.
He was issued to block ‘C’, a total contrast to what he had experienced in Strangeways but it still had its own rules, ward policies and regulations, but it was known as one of the more friendlier prisons and he soon settled into it. Bell’s new life had begun and he soon adapted to it.
Bell was delighted to have landed a job in the prison gardens at last. He worked alongside Paul Adams, a small, thin, bald strange looking man with deep set flickering eyes. He was a psychiatric patient who would never be released due to his sadistic and horrifying string of murders of prostitutes in Brighton and Hove.
He had been a caretaker in a Sussex hospital, where he would take a prostitute to the basement; subject them to violent sex while suffocating them. He would then incinerate them in the hospital’s boiler. The untreated remains made the smoke belch from the chimney where neighbours found the pollution intolerable and instead of informing the police, they informed the fire department. When the firemen arrived, they found dismembered corpses littering the floor. Limbs, heads and feet were scattered in grisly disarray, and they called the police. Forensic experts later pieced the remains together, which made a total of six human bodies.
Most of the inmates were mentally ill and considered a danger to the public with little chance of ever being released.
Although all of the inmates work on the outside of the prison, the security is far less to that of a closed prison, but it is not an easy place to escape from. During the day inmates are counted and again when they are locked in their cells and at every mealtime.
All the staff have walkie-talkies in case of a fight or an inmate becoming violently disturbed. Once the bell goes off, staff from other blocks come to their assistance if necessary. The staff are all big guys, they are usually armed with clubs, but they are trained in the techniques of restraint, unlike in Srangeways where their approach to violence was a good kicking to control the situation.
Bell spent his days outside planting trees and flower seeds when he wasn’t potting plants in the greenhouse, He kept himself to himself and his only contact with other inmates was at meal times or recreational periods.
He regularly visited the prison doctor to be assessed, with emphasis placed on his mental condition, which had been the authority’s main concern at his parole hearing.
Bell did have his own medical advisor, two cells down in the same block, Danny Frost.
Danny was known throughout the block as Doctor Frost. He wasn’t really a qualified doctor, but he had an amazing knowledge of medical matters. A lot of inmates would visit him with various problems, mainly sexual where much activity was known to have gone on. The screws turned a blind eye to it, except a couple that also visited him to satisfy their sexual fetish.
Many other inmates were also articulate and intelligent, despite what people on the outside might think. They were not savages; they were personalities in their own right.
When Bell was in need of isolation and privacy, he would climb the outside fire escape to the prison roof where he had planted an array of flowerpots along the walls. He would stand for hours looking at the spectacular view of the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside irrespective of the weather conditions, yet even at that height, his movements were monitored from the control room.
Peter Holland was another good friend of Bell’s; He had been a chef on the outside and remained in that trade throughout his sentence in the prison kitchens. He had an extremely high sex drive and often made excessive sexual demands on other inmates.
He would arrange orgies in his cell which were attended by a few, and occasionally Bell. The screws were aware of this and got their pleasure by watching the group of naked men through the spyglass in the door until they became bored and entered the cell after an hour or so, to break-up the party.
Holland was a large strong man, the black giant, as he was known inside. He had a hatred for dogs and on attacking a young boy in a wooded area near Leeds, he bit the throat out of the dog and sexually molested the young boy as he tied him to a tree.
The police had been notified by a passer by and when they arrived, he stabbed the two policemen in the buttocks during the struggle, and then turned his knife on his naked victim. He was given a hard time by the screws for the attack on the police officers.
And a harder time by the cons for his crime against the young boy.
Bell had seen some terrible cases since his arrival, with many of the inmates being so badly disturbed in their minds that they never recover. Inmates didn’t gang-up on each other as they did in Strangeways because they know that other inmates cannot help the things they have done or still do.
Bell was a sympathetic listener as he thought they deserved pity and understanding, not condemnation.
While Bell enjoyed his work in the prison gardens, the others went to the workshops, where they are taught a trade – not just the rudiments, but also one in which their skills are honed to perfection. They are also given education classes on a daily basis. The skills they learn are then put to use on projects to help the community.
The regime of learning and discipline goes well into the evening, when they are returned to clean their cells and those who fall short are denied the very few privileges available. One is to reduce all leisure times apart from physical activities.
The arrival of a young and attractive 23-year-old had caused much attraction from some of the other cons. He was a muscle-packed blond and over confident on arrival.
Cons did not like over confidence but liked muscle packed young blond guys.
As he was walked to his cell on ‘C’ block, the others were chanting, ‘You’re gonna get your little tight arse fucked in here, mate,’ where he responded by hurling back confident abuse.
He didn’t have to wait long for his fate, the first night in the showers, purposely unsupervised by the screws, resulted in him being gang raped by five of the most well-endowed inmates, one being Peter Holland who was well-known to have the one flaw in his perfect appearance, an oversized penis, which resulted in the lads injuries, He spent his first night in the hospital wing to recover.
He returned to his cell the following morning a far quieter and less confident con
.
His name was Brian Ripley, sentenced to twelve years for the murder of his parents in Bristol.
Ripley had served three of his twelve years sentence in Broadmoor prison, but had been transferred after being raped in his cell by four prisoners. He had made a small crude knife and stabbed one of the rapists and was given a further two-year sentence for the attack on an inmate, which he deemed as self defence.
Ripley’s first crime was at the age of 18 when he was decorating a house in Castleford. When the owner’s wife left the house, her husband tied him up, tortured him with hot candle wax and raped him over the trestle table. The wallpaper paste had been used for lubrication but did little to alleviate the pain he suffered.
When he released himself, he stabbed his attacker with a Stanley knife.
He stole the man’s car and went on the run to Scotland before returning to his home in Bristol, stabbing his parents to death.
He was naturally apprehensive in socialising with the other inmates, but would further frustrate them by masturbating naked in his cell as he flicked the pages of pornographic magazines with his door wide open, attracting an audience of older cons.
He would further encourage these guys by bending over in the showers, slowly soaping his rectum with one hand and simulating masturbation with his other.
He soon got a reputation as a ‘prick teaser’, yet some of the inmates with a high sex drive, being sexually deprived and many being sexually perverted, found him hard to resist and he gained many rewards in return for a quick grope.
Bell was fascinated by this young flamboyant stud, and although invited, he did not engage in any sexual encounter with him as he was determined to continue his clean record for the pending parole tribunal.
The young stud was often taken from his cell to the confines of the officers room where it was rumoured he would relieve them of their sexual frustrations in one way or another.
Inseparable Bond Page 6