Lynda Plante: The Escape

Unable to sleep, Colin paced round the cell. He looked over at Barry, sleeping like a baby apart from the snoring. He sincerely hoped that his friend would not get into deep trouble for helping him. Colin had considered tying Barry up and gagging him, but quickly realised that was a stupid idea which could give away everything at an early stage. He had even suggested that Barry should say that he was threatened and forced to do the tattoos and swap places, but Barry had rejected the idea. He would rather just play dumb and act as if he had forgotten about the arrangements for his court appearance. He also told Colin that he did not mind getting months added to his sentence, as he preferred prison life to his life outside.

Colin had tried to make him aware of what it could mean, as Barry had not even been convicted of a crime yet, but was on remand until the magistrates’ court sent him for trial. It was during that conversation that Colin learned exactly why Barry was at Barfield.

‘I was charged and kept in custody for stealing food.’

‘Stealing food! What was it, an Iceland truck full of the stuff?’ Colin had asked, astonished.

Barry laughed. ‘No, McDonalds and KFC.’

‘Burgers and chicken?’

‘Along with French fries and a large drink. I’d even order a triple Mac with double fries and the warmed apple pie. I was doing it like every day, sometimes twice, and always ran off without paying.’

Colin shook his head in disbelief as Barry continued, ‘I waited until all the food was on the tray and then, when they asked me for the money, I’d pick it up and run like hell.’

‘Didn’t you spill it off the tray?’

‘The first few times, yes, and I was only left with the chips or burger. The more I did it, the better I got and eventually never spilled a thing. One time though the drink went all over the floor, and the manager who was chasing me slipped in it and went arse over tit!’

They both laughed out loud as Barry recounted his balancing skills.

Colin was surprised that Barry’s crime, which seemed little more than a minor theft, was serious enough for him to land up in prison on remand. Barry giggled and explained that he had been dodging paying for his fast food for as long as he could remember.

‘I’ve been arrested loads of times, given warnings, fines and probation.’

‘Then why haven’t you learned your lesson?’

‘Because I just can’t resist doing it. I know every fast-food place from Chelsea to Fulham, Putney to New Malden, Kingston and beyond. You name an outlet and I’ll have tapped ’em.’

‘You must be a walking satnav for fast-food joints,’ Colin said.

‘I’d always return the tray,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I’d leave it in their doorway after eating the food. I had to keep switching where I went, so that the staff wouldn’t recognise me. I never thought I’d get caught, but they got me in Clapham High Street last time.’

Colin was taken aback as it was a ridiculous series of petty crimes that didn’t, in his opinion, warrant a prison sentence.

‘Why are you going for trial and pleading not guilty? If you plead guilty at the magistrates’ you might not even get a prison sentence.’

Barry giggled again. ‘Because I know that I will be found guilty and get a longer sentence at Crown court. You see, Colin, I’m glad they got me. I don’t really want to go anywhere else. I’m even going to ask for two hundred other cases to be taken into consideration.’

Colin could not understand Barry’s attitude. He himself hated being in prison and had always thought that Barry was just making the best of a bad job when he’d claimed otherwise. Now he realised that Barry was genuine, and that Barfield was the closest thing he had to a family and home.

Colin still felt extremely bitter that after going straight he’d been locked up for crimes he had committed over a year before. He was angry that the judge had not taken into consideration that he had changed while he was on the run and had been hard-working and honest. It had meant nothing to the judge that he had married Karen, she was pregnant and they were due to start a family together. It hadn’t helped that when Colin had been caught he had put up quite a struggle. Although all he had done was to push the arresting officer over, the judge described him as ‘violent’ and, peering at Colin over his half-moon glasses, had spoken in a clipped cold manner.

‘You were originally due for a sentence of probation and community service. You alone chose to abscond, and the courts will not tolerate that type of behaviour. You only have yourself to blame. Justice will be served and you, young man, are going to pay your debt to society.’

Colin went back to bed, but he tossed and turned and kept checking the time. The night seemed to go on forever, and he was growing more and more restless. He decided that, when he did give himself up, he’d start to use his time in prison more wisely, especially since he wanted to win back his chance of early parole. He would apply for the educational programmes and really try to better himself.

The more he thought of it, the more certain he became that, after the baby was born, his life would improve. He knew that in his teenage years he had been very rebellious and often, as the judge had said, he could be quite violent and had got into scraps. But after meeting Karen, he had calmed down. Now he hoped, when he gave himself up after the escape, he would be sent back to Barfield Prison and would share a cell with Barry again. They could study together and he would take classes in computer studies and business, or anything that would give him a greater chance of work when he was finally released.

At some point, he must have dozed off, because suddenly Barry was shaking him awake. It was 6 a.m. and they needed to double-check that none of the tattoos had smudged. Satisfied they were still intact and looking very realistic, they switched clothes. Barry was a lot plumper than his friend and the shirt looked too large on Colin, but he tucked it loosely into his prison-issue jeans to make himself look bigger than he was. Barry put on Colin’s shirt and started to button it up. It was very tight so he decided it was best to let it hang open, exposing the white prison vest.

He looked at Colin and shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’ve lost a bit of weight since I was arrested. It’s not eating all the takeaway food. You’ll have to tighten up my trousers. They look too big on you and the last thing you want is them falling down.’

Barry chuckled as Colin hitched up the jeans.

Eventually, their cell lock clanged as an officer opened the door at breakfast time. Colin grabbed Barry’s glasses from his face as the officer entered and checked his clipboard.

‘Which one of you is Marsden?’ the officer asked, and Barry, by force of habit, was about to answer, when quick-thinking Colin jumped in.

‘Me, sir.’

‘Go have your breakfast and then make your way to the wing staff office. An officer will escort you to the release area for processing before going to court.’

‘Yes, sir, I know, they explained it all to me last night,’ Colin said, as his heart thumped rapidly.

The officer was new and didn’t even give them a second glance as he moved on to the next cell.

Barry and Colin both breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I nearly dropped us in it there, but so far so good,’ Barry whispered.

‘Yeah, and I’m not even out of the cell yet,’ Colin said, wiping his brow.

‘He hardly even looked at us, and I’ve never seen him before,’ Barry said confidently.

‘Right, you go and get your breakfast and I’ll wait until eight to go to the wing.’

‘Slight problem there. If I’m supposed to be you now, I can’t really wear my glasses, and I can’t see a bloody thing without them,’ Barry said.