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Watch: Stocken Prison

Victoria Hicks goes inside Stocken... She meets a man who was sent to prison at the age of 49 and looks at the work of prison officers.

She has also been finding out how the prison is preparing inmates for life outside and how it's deals with the problem of drugs.

Watch her videos here...

Everyone's fascinated by prisons, Chris Auckland a prison officer told me, because "it's a closed community. It's one you only see if you've been inside".

He's right and that's why I wanted to film this series because I knew there were lots of fascinating stories to unearth. After several weeks of careful negotiation, this series is designed to give you an idea of "Life Inside".

HMP Stocken

What was it like filming inside HMP Stocken?

I found it quite difficult because I never knew what I was going to get. I also had to abide by prison routines and rules i.e. no filming whilst the corridors were full of prisoners in case it sparked a reaction.

No filming of locks and keys for security reasons. No filming of any prisoner unless they had been checked and deemed suitable to appear on television.

I filmed most of it myself. I must have walked miles with my tripod and camera around the prison corridors but it paid off. I gained a fascinating insight into what it's like to live and work in a prison.

Security Breach

One day's filming had to be cut short because of a security breach. A knife had been found in a cell.

An inmate had made it in a prison workshop in exchange for a small amount of tobacco on the black market.

After another day's filming, some prisoner officers had been "potted" which means a prisoner had thrown excrement at them.

The next day I saw one of the alleged ringleaders being transferred to a higher security jail. The ultimate punishment. These were both glimpses of how violent and dangerous prison life can be.

Prison Life

So what's it like to be in prison?

On the whole it didn't seem too bad, if you like your own company and don't have strong family ties.

Prisoners can go to the gym everyday, take courses or have a job which earns a small wage. For some I was told, it's the first time they've had a secure place to live, with regular meals and no financial worries.

As a category C prison, Stocken prepares inmates for life on the outside. As prisoners work towards their release, they earn privileges.

On some wings, inmates have their own door keys during the day, have an en-suite bathroom and windows without bars which they can open. The cells are like a budget hotel room but smaller.

Does that make it too easy for prisoners? Not according to one ex-miner I met called Paul White. He told me you can have it as cushy as you like in prison, but he'd prefer to be at home any day of the week.

Out of Control

Paul White's story is an interesting one. He first started taking cannabis to dull the pain of a back injury.

Then he started to take it because he liked it. Then he started dealing it, to get free drugs for himself. From there, his life spiraled out of control.

The one thing that surprised me most about prison life was the massive impact of drugs - on crime figures and on people's lives. Almost two thirds of Stocken's inmates admit they have a drug problem.

Whilst filming I met several men who'd lost everything to drugs - their families, their jobs and their homes. Drugs had quite simply destroyed their lives.

One man told me how his last offence had been a £20,000 robbery. He said he'd spent the proceeds in two weeks. I asked him what on. "Drugs" he said... "and I bought a couple of new pairs of trainers".

At his height he said he was spending £700 a day on crack cocaine.

More Jobs

For months now, Stocken Prison has been a building site. It's had new wings and new workshops built to create more jobs for inmates.

In June 2008 they'll be officially opened by Jack Straw. It's a high-profile visit for the governor Steve Turner.

He joined the prison service 34 years ago as a prison officer and has risen through the ranks.

"If you're a people person, then working in a prison is a great job" he told me. It's not a career path you often get to hear about.

Waste of a Life

Paul White told me that being in prison is such a huge waste of life. After each day's filming, this was my abiding impression.

More than 800 men in one establishment, all treading water until their release date.

Some of them so young, others with such bad criminal records they'd made themselves virtually unemployable with very little chance of a life on the straight and narrow after their release.

One prisoner told me being in prison was like a stag weekend without the booze. I guess most would-be bridegrooms wouldn't want to take him up on the offer.

Being locked in and out of every room makes prison life claustrophobic. It's certainly not a place where I'd want to end up.

More on 'Life Inside' by tuning into BBC Radio Leicester (104.9 FM, DAB & Online) between 06:00-09:00 and on BBC East Midlands Today, BBC One at 18:30 between 09-13 June 2008.