23 December 2023 , 17:02
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One of the best bits of Christmas for many of us is sitting down to a turkey dinner on December 25 but what about those behind bars?
What kind of Christmas lunch inmates can look forward to varies up and down the country. Some prisons lay on turkey and Christmas pud while others offer much more standard fare, like a filled roll. Ex-con Jamie Robinson spent every Christmas and birthday from the ages of 18 to 30 in prison. Jamie, now 38, who has served time in 28 UK prisons, including HMP Preston and Strangeways, has revealed what Christmas is really like behind bars.
Jamie, who runs the Jail Tales TikTok account and has amassed 37,000 followers, says prisoners don't really care about Christmas but look forward to a fresh start in the New Year. Speaking on the podcast The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, the ex prisoner said inmates get a full Christmas dinner served up, LancsLive reports.
He said: "It's just another day in prison... You get Christmas dinner but it's just another day you want to get out of the way. You want New Year to get out of the way too so you start a fresh year, so you're a year closer to going home, especially when you're doing big sentences."
Inmates at HMP Leicester were served an array of feast frood, according to data obtained from a Freedom of Information request by Leicestershire Live. They were offered the following on December 25, 2021. For lunch offenders had a choice of a halal roast turkey and stuffing, a vegan/veggie braised Quorn fillet in onion gravy, roast beef paired with a Yorkshire pudding. Dessert was either fruit pudding and vanilla sauce or fresh fruit.
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Dinner time saw a choice of halal BBQ chicken mayo pasta salad, a Quiche Lorraine salad or a vegan sausage roll salad. On Boxing day the inmates got a second crack at a festive feast with prisoners at HMP Leicester getting their pick of a halal turkey cordon bleu, a vegetable pie, a gammon steak, or a vegetable kiev, served with potato wedges and baked beans. Dessert included mince pies or fresh fruit.
While this may sound lavish it is still not a patch on the seven choices of main course HMP Stafford put on for inmates. An FOI request from January 2015 shows that prisoners the previous Christmas had the choice of: Homemade Nut Roast, Grilled Tomato & Roast Potatoes, Fish With Lemon & Prawn Dressing, Roast Turkey, Cranberry Sauce & Stuffing, Sausage & Bacon Roll & Roast Potatoes, Roast Pork, Apple Sauce, Stuffing & Roast Potatoes, Chicken & Spinach Curry & Rice, Stuffed Butternut Squash or Noodle Grill & Sweet Chilli Sauce.
Things were looking decidedly less festive at HMP Belmarsh where prisoners only got a filled baguette that year - Coronation Chicken, Tuna & Cucumber or Cheese and Tomato. Things at HMP Buckley Hall were also uninspiring: All day Breakfast (with vegetarian and Halal versions), Pork and Stuffing Bap or Tuna Bap – although both the baps do come with crisps.
The year the FOI was made the prison service allocated 2.02 per prisoner per day public sector prisons within England and Wales to cover all prisoner meals and beverages - prisoners could choose to pay more from their own pocket for a Christmas dinner. However in 2021 the spend was £2.17 per day and an MoJ spokesman told Leicester Live: "Meals in prisons over Christmas are paid for from within the existing budget and at no extra cost to the taxpayer or the prisoners."