Читать книгу Ultimate Hard Bastards - The Truth About the Toughest Men in the World - Kate Kray - Страница 20

In Ireland, prison is not thought of as a deterrent, although a few years ago things were different and prison would have been harder but not these days. In Ireland, the paramilitary run the prisons, not the screws. We’re not criminals, we’re paramilitaries; we’re classed as soldiers. When we go to jail, we don’t do what they tell us – they do what we tell them.

Jail is not a deterrent, jail is an education. I learned more about life when I was in jail than I did in the whole of my lifetime when I was out.

In jail, you’re confined 24 hours a day and that time is spent alone. Outside time just passes you by and you never have time to stop and think about anything. Inside, you’re on your own, you analyse everything, you have all the time in the world to think, so it’s an education because everything goes through your head about what happened in the past, what might happen in the future. You analyse it all and educate yourself – it’s self-education. The fact that you’re in jail can be used to your advantage – if you want exams, you learn; if you’re into training, you use your time in the gym. That’s what I did. I went into jail out of shape and came out in the best shape of my life.

No, jail is not a deterrent, it’s an education. The only thing it does is take away your freedom.