Book description
Jim Dawkins left home at the age of sixteen to pursue his dream of
joining the army, and subsequently served with the Royal Green Jackets,
including tours of Canada and Northern Ireland. During that time he
learnt many important lessons in the University of Life that would serve
him well in the future, such as discipline, respect, pride and honour,
but which, at the same time, would lead to insufferable stress as he
constantly battled with his conscience and struggled to swim against the
tide. Once back in Civvy Street, and with a new house and a baby to
support, Jim decided to join the Prison Service. But what faced him in
this new career, which centred on Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs and
Belmarsh prisons, shocked him to the core. For this ex-squaddie, who
believed in establishing good working relationships with inmates,
including notorious long-termer, Charles Bronson, the cancerous
environment of staff bully-boy tactics and prisoner victimization was
sickening. Jim tells his story, which, although peppered with humorous
anecdotes of often lager-induced incidents from both his army and prison
days, bears witness to the stark reality of what actually goes on behind
prison doors, and exposes both the glaring flaws in the prison system
and the atrocities perpetrated in the name of justice, which ultimately
forced his decision to leave the Prison Service seven years later. Jim
Dawkins left home at the age of sixteen to pursue his dream of joining
the army, and subsequently served with the Royal Green Jackets,
including tours of Canada and Northern Ireland. During that time he
learnt many important lessons in the University of Life that would serve
him well in the future, such as discipline, respect, pride and honour,
but which, at the same time, would lead to insufferable stress as he
constantly battled with his conscience and struggled to swim against the
tide. Once back in Civvy Street, and with a new house and a baby to
support, Jim decided to join the Prison Service. But what faced him in
this new career, which centred on Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs and
Belmarsh prisons, shocked him to the core. For this ex-squaddie, who
believed in establishing good working relationships with inmates,
including notorious long-termer, Charles Bronson, the cancerous
environment of staff bully-boy tactics and prisoner victimization was
sickening. Jim tells his story, which, although peppered with humorous
anecdotes of often lager-induced incidents from both his army and prison
days, bears witness to the stark reality of what actually goes on behind
prison doors, and exposes both the glaring flaws in the prison system
and the atrocities perpetrated in the name of justice, which ultimately
forced his decision to leave the Prison Service seven years later.
