Receiving a prison sentence

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What you will find on this page

What can I expect when sentenced
Court Custody staff
How will I be transported to prison?
Arriving at prison
About local category B prisons (Cat B)
Restorative Justice
Types of RJ

What can I expect on my first few days in prison?

So, it's been confirmed. You’re on your way to prison. Or, if you prefer, jail, the clink, the brickhouse, the porridge factory, the pen… There are many names for prison but you'll come to realise it's generally the same place.

The first few hours after receiving a prison sentence are the most confusing for a first timer.

However you have prepared mentally for imprisonment, the confirmation from the judge and the passing of your sentence can leave you shocked and bewildered. At this moment, these feelings can overwhelm any sense of feeling prepared.

You may feel:

in disbelief at the sentence length
frightened of going to prison
worried about your relationships with your partner, children, and loved ones
concerned about your home and employment responsibilities
overwhelming shame and guilt for your crime.

Consequently, you may be experiencing:

One of the many mistakes first timers make is to try to look unfazed by what's happening; hiding their true feelings in fear of being seen as weak in front of others.

It's a common misconception that prison is not a place to show vulnerabilitiesvulnerabilites, and in their fear of facing the approaching challenges and anticipated difficulties of prison life, first timers may adopt unhelpful and ineffective coping strategies such as:

looking unaffected by what is happening
acting the opposite of how they actually feel
pretend everything is okay when in fact it's not.

If you do find yourself acting this way, feel assured it's not uncommon. There are many different reasons that we may try to hide, or disguise, our emotional pain. Some may relate to the imminent threat and consequences of imprisonment, others are just your individual response to handling things.

The list below is not exhaustive, but it relates how the whole experience of going to prison can make you feel.

like a failure
fearful of being judged
weak, helpless, or defenceless
embarrassed or humiliated
in denial of what's happening
not listened to or understood
a non-entity, or invisible
worried of a backlash
guilt, shame or a feeling of being a bad person generally.

What's worse, you may have actually been hiding how you feel for a while - ever since your initial arrest - and in doing so have learnt to accept and live with negative thoughts and feelings or emotions.

Entering the prison and seeing other prisoners who seem to cope just fine, may encourage you to try and match their coping style and suppress the way you feel in the hope it’s temporary and ‘will go away soon’. However, when we avoid our emotions, we’re actually making them stronger.

It's important to acknowledge how we feel and learn to express our concerns at the earliest opportunity, and avoiding feelings is harmful. If you need help to acknowledge, accept and manage your feelings, or if your feelings are becoming overwhelming, you should seek support at the earliest opportunity. From the moment you are sentenced there are many options for seeking support, the first one being court custody staff:

Court Custody staff

Once you're handcuffed, taken from the dock and escorted to the court holding cells, you will again have to be processed (similar to the police station). Your items are removed and placed in a property bag, and you will be asked questions.

It's here that a member of the custody team will ask how you are, and this is your moment to talk honestly and learn about the support available. Custody staff are actually great at providing support, but more importantly they will speak with the prison about your concerns so that when you arrive at prison. additional support is in place.

Details of further opportunities to discuss how you feel with prison related services are available throughout this guide.

How will I be transported to prison?

‘The sweatbox’ is a commonly used name for the transport buses to and from prisons. If you're travelling in these in the peak of summer then you will see why the name is fitting; it’s fair to say it isn’t the nicest way to travel – it’s uncomfortable, grimy, and can be quite loud.

You will be handcuffed to a custody officer who will lead you from your holding cell and escort you onto the bus, where you will be placed in a very small cubicle and have the cuffs removed, while the door is obviously secured to prevent you escaping.

You will be able to see and hear other prisoners discuss their day in court and possibly be asked questions or feel interrogated about your day; ‘What was your offence?’, ‘How long did you get?’, and probably other personal questions about you. It's up to you if you answer at all.

Remember: Prepare to be patient - sweatboxes may be transporting prisoners to different prisons which means your journey could be a long one. If you're likely to need the toilet, make sure you go whilst in the courts!

Each arrival at a prison will mean a gate check, followed by the unloading of prisoners into the prison reception, back out for a gate check, and so on. Each stop adds at least 30 minutes to your journey and you might not arrive at your destination - which will be a local category B prison - until late in the evening.

Arriving at prison

You may see several buses waiting outside the prison reception, which means you have a wait ahead while each prisoner is unloaded. When it's your turn the custody staff will handcuff you, lead you from the bus, and hand you over to the prison reception staff.

If you have highlighted that you feel distressed and have asked for support, it's very likely this information will have been passed onto the prison staff so don’t be scared to ask about it.

About local category B prisons (Cat B)

Local Cat B prisons will always be the first choice of prison after conviction from court. These prisons hold prisoners at different stages of their sentence and prisoners with different categories. Your offence / sentence length and your risk for escape will determine your category, but the most commonly given post-sentence is category B.

To understand more about the range of different category prisons click here

The dynamics of local Cat B prisons are more chaotic than other categories due to:

Remand prisoners - in all Cat B locals is a wing that houses prisoners awaiting trial or sentence
Sentenced prisoners of different categories - Cat B, Cat C and Cat D prisoners are in the prison to either take offending behaviour courses, or because they have been removed from a previous lower category prison for behaviour, or they are awaiting allocation of a new prison after achieving a lower category
Short sentenced and long term prisoners - as local Cat B prisons are the first port of call after sentencing, the range of sentences of prisoners vary. For instance, you could be serving ten years and talk with prisoners who are serving ten days, ten weeks or ten months
Drug availability – due to the daily influx of prisoners from court and transfers, access to drugs is more readily available.
High capacity- some of these prisons can hold up to a thousand prisoners in any one day.

Restorative Justice (RJ)

Whilst in Prison you can make enquiries about taking part in Restorative Justice (RJ) with the victim of your crime. RJ is a process of communication between you and your victim which aims to repair the harm that has been caused by your actions through listening and hearing from your victim and acknowledging responsibility (REF). Some prisons offer RJ within the prison establishment, whilst others use external providers to deliver RJ in the prison. Some UK prisons are restorative prisons which include HMP Peterborough and HMP Durham. Restorative prisons are prisons that are run on restorative principles.

You could also speak to one of our team who is trained to facilitate RJ

To be eligible to take part in RJ you must be prepared to accept (at least some) responsibility for your offence.

The benefits of RJ have been well researched (references) and include reduction in likelihood of reoffending, desistance from offending, development of positive self-identity. Taking part in RJ and having a positive outcome from it is also likely to lead to better mental health, better emotional regulation, less shame about self and more willingness to do better. These benefits are further entrenched in one’s life if coupled with positive changes to lifestyle and associates, cessation of substance misuse, gaining more social capital.

Why do RJ?

Taking part in RJ is a very personal choice and decision. It’s a voluntary process which can be terminated at any time but needs motivation to see through. If you accept some responsibility for your crime and if you would be willing to communicate with your victim, then RJ may be an option for you. For the other person who has been harmed by your actions, they are left with the impact of those actions and you can contribute towards repairing that harm. RJ gives your victim the opportunity to communicate with you to tell you how your actions have impacted them and in doing so it empowers them and fulfils their unmet justice needs because they can ask questions which you can answer.

Types of RJ

RJ conference

RJ conferences are face to face meetings between you and your victim and their supporters (if agreed)- you are also allowed to bring supporters-. These face to face meetings only takes place after months of preparation and with the consent of both parties. RJ is facilitated by expert trained facilitators who are skilled in this type of work. There are some circumstances where a face to face meeting may not be appropriate or suitable or wanted. The conference is scripted and facilitated by the RJ facilitator. In RJ conferences victims have the chance to get answers to their questions and some closure from the offence. The preparation for RJ conferences typically takes between 3-12 months.

RJ letter

Restorative letters are written by you and directed at your victim. They give you the opportunity to convey the fact you accept responsibility for your offence and how you feel about what has happened, what you were thinking at the time and you also answer any questions the victim may have (these will have been given to the facilitator who will shuttle this information to you to address in your letter). In some cases, RJ letters are the most appropriate type of outcome. The preparation for RJ letters typically takes up to 6 months (but can take longer).

Shuttle RJ

In some cases, you or your victim may feel that using the RJ facilitator as the shuttle, a process where information is passed between both parties is the best and most suitable outcome. In this type of RJ with the consent of both parties, the RJ facilitator engages with both you and your victim exchanging information from one side to the other until a satisfactory conclusion is reached. The preparation of a shuttle RJ outcome can take anywhere up to 12 months or more.

RJ via video link

In some cases face to face RJ can take place via video link.

If you feel you would like to repair any harm you may have caused or just listen to options in making steps towards RJ feel free to contact us.

Remember we are always here to help,