12 The Linguist Vol/64 No/1
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FEATURES
Sue Leschen reveals what interpreters can expect from various
prisons as she travels from low-security facilities to secure hospitals
I
have done time in a variety of prisons over
the years – thankfully as a legal interpreter
rather than as a prisoner – from open prisons
with relatively relaxed security to high-security
Category A prisons. 'Strangeways' (now known
as HMP Manchester but almost never called
that by Mancunians) is my local prison. Over
the years, it has hit the headlines due to high-
profile prisoners such as Ian Brady (the Moors
murderer) and Harold Shipman (the serial
patient killer).
Interpreting in Strangeways is generally a
depressing experience as most of the building
is an 1868 Dickensian time warp, forever in
urgent need of modernisation. It only
accommodates men – both remand prisoners
awaiting trial in the local Manchester courts
and convicted Category A prisoners. On
arrival, interpreters' ID and booking
documents are checked. Then, along with
other assorted visitors such as relatives and
lawyers, we leave our personal belongings,
including phones and wallets, in lockers in
the Visitors Centre. On one memorable visit,
my instructing solicitor's locker was broken
into while we were in the prison consultation
room – bringing less to these visits is
definitely more!
On another visit, a solicitor who had been
visiting clients at the prison for more than 15
years was refused entry because she had
forgotten to bring her ID document. For
prisoners' families, the Visitors Centre is also a
place where they can gather before and after
visits, and it is common to see children running
around while their mothers chat with each
other. It's not the best place to socialise, but
better than nothing under the circumstances.
In order to access the prison wings, you
then pass through standard security
procedures (handheld and/or gated metal
detectors) and sometimes pat-down body
searches, which can occasionally involve
sniffer dogs being led up and down the
queue. Even so, security is not infallible – on
one visit my solicitor succeeded in bringing in
chewing gum in her mouth, a packet of polo
mints concealed in her file of papers and a
BEHIND
BARS
WITH LITTLE OR NO
NATURAL LIGHT, YOU
ARE CONSTANTLY
BEING MONITORED
BY PASSING GUARDS
©
PEXELS
