Ex-Prison Governor Shares Inside Look at Inmates’ Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is famously a time for comfort and joy, but there won’t be much of either if you are spending it in prison. 

During the festive season, while the world outside is filled with joyous celebrations, inside prison walls, the pain of being separated from loved ones intensifies existing tensions in what is already a potentially volatile environment, according to insiders.

On the actual holiday, a lack of prison guards often results in visitation restrictions, forcing inmates and a reduced staff to navigate through what can be a bleak situation.

Vanessa Frake-Harris, a former security and operations governor at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London, noted that Christmas presents challenges for everyone connected to the prison system, highlighting the emotional difficulties faced during this time.

‘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, a former governor of security and operations at Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London , said Christmas was a ‘difficult time for all those connected with prison’

‘There will be a Christmas dinner which will cater for all diets.  

‘Obviously there is no legal alcohol, though at this time of the year – in the male estate particularly – prisoners attempt to brew their own called hooch. It’s very dangerous stuff can make you go blind and in some cases kill you.

‘All prisons will try to run a regime of sorts, though granted with overcrowding and staff shortages this will be difficult. Quite often the staff run quizzes, pool competitions etc. on the wing.’

Ms Frake-Harris, author of The Governor, said having to spend the festive period behind bars could exert a heavy emotional toll. 

‘It can be a very lonely place for prisoners as there are no visits on Christmas Day or Boxing Day as these staff will be used on the wing,’ she said. 

‘Instances of self harm of prisoners can increase over this period. All concerned try to get through the Christmas period with as few problems or incidents as possible.

‘Various religious services will run and faith leaders play a part in helping prisoners to deal with this period in custody. 

‘At Holloway on Christmas Eve we used to have the Salvation Army come into the grounds and play Christmas carols – it provided a distraction to the women who were incarcerated at this time.’

Prisoners spending their first Christmas behind bars include rioters John Honey (left) and David Wilkinson

Honey was notoriously pictured looting several shops including an O2 store while wearing an England shirt 

Criminals spending their first Christmas behind bars include 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 England top before trying to beat up the Romanians alongside Wilkinson, who also attacked police guarding a hotel housing asylum seekers and tried to set fire to a wheelie bin. 

They admitted violent disorder, racially aggravated criminal damage and other charges, with Honey jailed for 56 months in prison and Wilkinson six years – although they will likely only serve half their sentences behind bars. 

Reformed gangster Stephen Gillen, 53, served 18 years behind bars with the likes of Charles Bronson, and previously revealed what it was like to spend the festive period locked up. 

‘There’s a bit of a truce when it comes to the festive season,’ he said. 

‘On the day itself, you get a Christmas dinner. You get a bit of chicken or turkey, pigs in blankets and roast potatoes. You get treated to Christmas pudding too.’

Reformed gangster Stephen Gillen, 53, described eating a Christmas dinner consisting of turkey, pigs in blankets and roast potatoes when he was locked up 

Ms Frake-Harris fears budget cuts will have forced jails to skimp on decorations. Pictured: Christmas trees at HMP Portland in Dorset

One menu obtained from HMP Leicester revealed a lunch menu with four choices – a halal roast turkey and stuffing, a vegan Quorn fillet in onion gravy, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or a homemade potato and leek pie.

Dessert was either 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 final was a vegan sausage roll salad.