Britain’s largest high security prison has allowed an exclusive insight into life for prisoners and staff for a new documentary series on ITV1, Strangeways.
Behind the Victorian walls of HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways, are some of the country’s most violent men. There are 1200 prisoners, including murderers, rapists, drug dealers and terrorists serving sentences ranging from a few days to life.
Programme makers, Wild Pictures, who have won acclaim for powerful documentaries on Holloway and Wormwood Scrubs prisons, were given unique access to follow the lives of prisoners and prison officers who make up this complex community at HMP Manchester.
The three part series shows how the prison has moved on from the notorious riots of 1990 and provides a close up view of prison staff’s efforts to cope with the many challenges thrown at them, often in the face of extreme provocation and physical violence. By tracking individual stories, with prisoners talking openly on camera, the series provides an intimate perspective on inmates’ ways of dealing with the tension of life on the inside and offers an unflinching view of prison culture and its violence, self-harm and drug use.
The series also looks at the importance of strong family ties in keeping prisoners on the straight and narrow, and features television’s first prison wedding as Kelly Hansen marries her fiancé – armed robber, Adrian Fielding. Cameras follow the couple on their special day in Strangeways and then during the next few months as they come to terms with the fact that Adrian will not be released for at least another two years.
Despite family misgivings, Kelly was determined to marry Adrian in prison rather than wait until he had completed a seven year sentence.
On the big day Kelly is welcomed into the prison in her pink bridal gown, with their children in matching wedding finery. But they all have to be searched thoroughly in case they have smuggled in contraband.
There’s no celebratory champagne and flowers for the couple as they take their vows in a spartan meeting room in the prison visitors’ area. Adrian has been allowed out for an hour, and as soon as the short ceremony is over he has to return to his cell to spend his first night of married life alone.
Category A prisoners arrive at HMP Manchester daily under armed guard in bomb proof vans. These are men with the means and motive to escape. They are so dangerous they must be locked up in a prison within a prison.
Richard Vince, Governor of Strangeways. “We have people in custody who have murdered in custody. Absolutely they can be dangerous... by virtue of some people having life sentences you can safely say they are a very dangerous individual.”
The cameras were allowed onto the Cat A wing to film the lives of some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, like body builder Michael Sharp, who is in prison for a brutal murder.
Michael Sharp says: “There's no light at the end of the tunnel, so what you're finding is a lot of stabbings, a lot of slashings, people boiling up tubs of butter, turning it into oil, throwing that over the faces, over the body, they don't care what they do. They don't care if they stab someone up, they don't care if they slash people up.”
The film also followed first time prisoner Lee Smith as he was given the devastating news that he would be spending 15 years in jail for his role in a multi million pound drugs ring. His baby son may be a teenager before he is released.
He says he had been paid £500 to drive a van on three trips to earn some money for Christmas. Lee pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy, and was anticipating a seven year sentence. The film shows how he has to come to terms with seeing his family only in the prisoners’ visiting room.
The second programme brings a unique portrait of the work of the nursing staff in the prison hospital. The nurses talk candidly about their daily efforts to stop prisoners self-harming and committing suicide because they cannot cope with life in jail.
The series also features David Charlton, the prison’s most disruptive prisoner, who commits petty offences in order to get back into Strangeways, where he wreaks havoc, refusing to wash, soiling his cell and insisting on being pushed everywhere in a wheelchair although officers say he is perfectly capable of walking.
Strangeways is produced by James Cohen, the directors are Nick Mattingley and Louise Malkinson, and the executive producer is Paul Hamann.
Strangeways is a Wild Pictures production for ITV1.
Programme One
This film focuses on the importance of strong family ties in helping prisoners to cope with their sentences as well as the crucial role of family support in keeping inmates on the straight and narrow while inside.
At its centre is the relationship between armed robber Adrian Fielding and his girlfriend Kelly Hansen. Kelly has always had Adrian’s best interests at heart, whether he was in or out of prison. After he robbed a post office and went on the run, it was Kelly who encouraged Adrian to give himself up, for the sake of the long term security of their family.
To help maintain strong family ties while he is inside, Adrian and Kelly have decided to marry in Strangeways. This programme features the first prison wedding shown on television.
Kelly says: “Don't matter about the biggest cars and the biggest church and how much money you've got in your bank and who's going to be there, my wedding's just going to be as good. Because we're doing the same thing, we're marrying someone we love.”
With unique access, cameras also take us onto the notorious Category A unit where the most dangerous prisoners are kept. We follow first time prisoner Lee Smith as he enters the Cat A unit where he must stay on remand until sentence because of his involvement in a multi million pound drugs conspiracy – which he claims to know nothing about.
Smith is expecting a short sentence and cameras are there as he comes back from court fresh from being sentenced with a tariff he did not expect.
Programme Two
This film focuses on the healthcare unit at Strangeways – effectively a prison hospital staffed by officers and nurses. It is the first time such access has been given to what is one of the most challenging and sensitive areas in the prison.
Healthcare deals with the most demanding and violent prisoners in Strangeways. Staff here must assess and manage those who may be mentally ill and pose a threat to themselves or others.
Strangeways’ most disruptive prisoner David Charlton is often a resident on this wing as he cannot function in the normal wings. Forty year old Charlton claims he is disabled and staff must push him around the prison in a wheelchair. But medical staff say he CAN walk. He is regularly abusive to staff and frequently soils his cell. Despite all this, Charlton regards Strangeways as his home and commits offences simply to get back into prison.
Staff must also deal with a violent prisoner sent to healthcare after clubbing a prison officer over the head, the aftermath of which we witness. Despite having assaulted a colleague, staff are concerned for the welfare of this prisoner as he insists on head butting his cell floor for hours, and refuses to come out from under his bed.
The cameras also follow a prisoner on Healthcare who “kicks off” and needs more than six staff to restrain him after he bites an officer.
This film is a sensitive portrait of the men and women who risk their lives on this most difficult unit such as nurse Karen Kenny who often find themselves torn between the need to maintain security and their nursing instincts.
Programme Three
This film looks at how the prison has moved on since the infamous 1990 riots, when prisoners were protesting against brutal conditions and an outdated system.
A world apart from today’s regime, where harsh discipline has given way to a duty of care and rehabilitation and where the carrot of prison privileges is used to induce prisoners to behave well – instead of simply the stick of punishment.
After his marriage to Kelly, model prisoner Adrian Fielding and his new wife are looking forward to his move to a low security prison, which will also mean home visits. We witness the effect on Adrian and Kelly as this prison move is delayed and the pressures of life alone with her four children begin to take their toll on Kelly.
And David Charlton, Strangeways’ most disruptive prisoner, returns to abuse staff yet again.
