Christmas is known as a time of comfort and joy, but you won’t notice much of that if you spend it in prison.
While the festive season is marked by joyful celebrations in the outside world, the pain of being separated from family and friends behind bars adds tension to what is often an already volatile environment, insiders say.
A shortage of guards on the big day itself means visits are usually banned, forcing prisoners and a skeleton staff to make the best of an otherwise grim situation.
Vanessa Frake-Harris, former governor of security and operations at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London, said Christmas was a “difficult time for everyone associated with the prison”.
“Each individual prison will try to make the best of it,” she told MailOnline. ‘We used to get a Christmas budget for decorations but I fear this is probably no longer the case and most prisons will make do with what they have.
A Christmas tree at HMP Portland, a resettlement prison in Dorset with a capacity for 530 prisoners
Vanessa Frake-Harris, former governor of security and operations at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London, said Christmas was a ‘difficult time for everyone involved with the prison’
‘There will be a Christmas dinner that takes all diets into account.
‘Obviously there is no legal alcohol, although at this time of year prisoners – especially in the male quarters – try to brew their own so-called hooch. They are very dangerous things that can make you blind and in some cases even cause death.
‘All prisons will try to implement some kind of regime, but given the overcrowding and staff shortages this will be difficult. Very often the staff organizes quizzes, group competitions, etc. on the wing.’
Ms Frake-Harris, author of The Governor, said spending the holidays behind bars could take a heavy emotional toll.
“It can be a very lonely place for prisoners as there are no visitors on Christmas Day and Boxing Day as these staff are deployed to the wing,” she said.
‘The number of cases of self-harm among prisoners may increase during this period. Everyone involved tries to get through the Christmas period with as few problems or incidents as possible.
‘There will be a range of religious services taking place and faith leaders have a role to play in helping prisoners cope with this period of custody.
‘In Holloway we had the Salvation Army come into the grounds on Christmas Eve and play carols – it provided a distraction for the women who were incarcerated at the time.’
Among prisoners spending their first Christmas behind bars are rioters John Honey (left) and David Wilkinson
Honey was infamously photographed looting several shops, including an O2 store, while wearing an England shirt
Among the criminals spending their first Christmas behind bars are rioters John Honey, 25, and David Wilkinson, 48, who attacked a group of three Romanian men in a BMW during race riots in Hull.
Honey looted a Lush, an O2 store and a Shoezone while wearing an English top before trying to beat up Romanians alongside Wilkinson, who also attacked police guarding a hotel where asylum seekers were living and tried to set fire to a bin .
They admitted violent disorder, racially aggravated criminal damage and other charges, with Honey jailed for 56 months and Wilkinson for six years – although they are likely to serve only half their sentence behind bars.
Reformed gangster Stephen Gillen, 53, spent 18 years behind bars with the likes of Charles Bronson and previously revealed what it was like to spend the holidays locked up.
“There’s a bit of a truce when it comes to the holidays,” he said.
‘On the day itself you will receive a Christmas dinner. You get a piece of chicken or turkey, pigs in blankets and fried potatoes. You’ll be treated to Christmas pudding too.’
Reformed gangster Stephen Gillen, 53, described how he ate a Christmas dinner of turkey, pigs in blankets and roast potatoes when he was locked up
Ms Frake-Harris fears cuts will have forced prisons to skimp on decorations. Pictured: Christmas trees at HMP Portland in Dorset
One menu obtained from HMP Leicester unveiled a lunch menu featuring four choices: a halal roast turkey with stuffing, a vegan Quorn fillet in onion gravy, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or a homemade potato and leek pie.
Dessert was fruit pudding and vanilla sauce or fresh fruit.
For dinner the first option was a halal BBQ chicken mayo pasta salad, the second was a Quiche Lorraine salad and the last was a vegan sausage roll salad.