POLICE reporter KEN McGREGOR got a small taste of life behind bars when he spent a night in Mobilong Prison

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SOME of the state's most notorious criminals are pounding on the walls surrounding my tiny cell. It's deafening. "Fresh meat" had arrived. It was feeding time.

With visions of brutal attacks and sexual assaults flowing through my head, I spend the next few hours double checking my cell has been locked - not to try to escape but to ensure other inmates could not force their way in.

How the hell did I end up locked inside the high security wing at Mobilong Prison and would I escape its walls unscathed?

"There are assaults every other day and about 80 per cent of them are perpetrated on new inductees," a prison staff member tells me.

"The majority are a case of mistaken identity, they think you are someone else who rolled over on them or have done something to someone they know. It is quite pathetic really."

He says these assaults are generally carried out by the "plastic gangsters", the young hoods who are trying to make a name for themselves.

In scenes reminiscent of Shawshank Redemption, new arrivals are escorted through the "gauntlet", a 100m walk through a courtyard surrounded by other prisoners.

After a search, I change into my prison clothes and cautiously make my way to my 4m by 2m cell with my remaining possessions; bed sheets, a kettle, a loaf of bread, and a carton of milk.

Shortly after arrival, I am served with the "best prison food in the state" - made by the inmates.

The prison, which is considered by inmates to be one of the better places to serve time, has a recreational area, a basketball court, an oval, a gym, and a swimming pool - but you have to earn the right to use them.

Sturt Unit inmates are not allowed to access these areas. Fortunately, I am quite happy to remain locked safely in my cell.

I meet John, who is part way through a 10-year sentence, in an interview room near the holding cells. He is a big man in his late 30s with a deep voice and looks like he is capable of throttling you if you look at him the wrong way.

When John speaks, however, I'm surprised to learn he is articulate and thoughtful. Within minutes I am totally relaxed in his presence.

He tells me the "pressure cooker" of so many inmates living in close quarters is what triggers violence within Mobilong's walls.

"People get into punch-ups for the smallest thing, it could just be the tone of voice you used," he says.

"It is a pressure cooker and stuff that you would normally just wash off, say if you are in a carpark and somebody cuts you off, on the outside you would normally give them the finger or just blow it off.

"The same thing in here will earn you a clobbering because it is all about pecking order, you can't be seen to be weak because otherwise you are going to have problems."

Reports of rapes, gangs and drug use within the prison system are overexaggerated and are not what new inductees should fear, he says.

"The biggest problem we have got here is boredom. You have got to be able to keep the head going.

"No one is here by choice, I'm here because I am a f . . . . . . idiot, that is a simple fact. The most important thing that needs to be thought about is the dead time factor . . . letters, work, read.

"If you spend a long time in here it can really get you down. You really have to have a positive frame of mind. You really have to think about your future."

Prisoners at Mobilong can progress from the high-security Sturt Unit through to the Ross Unit Cottages.

Ross Unit prisoners are allowed to roam the prison grounds between 8.10am to 8.20pm and prepare most of their own meals.

"Basically this is one of the better prisons, it is an open facility.You are doing time, we are all guilty of doing something. However there is a saying about doing hard time," John says.

"Mobilong is not like that, you will find the majority of the staff are low stress. Because it is an open facility, you do not get the caged-in feelings like the other facilities and that affects your state of mind."

John says he has used counselling offered by the Department of Corrections to control his anger and turn his life around.

For those who choose not to embrace rehabilitation, prison life becomes their reality as they descend into a cycle of offend and release.

"Jail is like any other fraternity. They (the inmates) talk about what they know best and it can be a breeding ground if it's not handled properly. It has the potential to become a real education in the wrong way," John says.

Correctional Services Minister Tom Koutsantonis says conditions throughout the prison system are harsh but fair.

"I make no excuses for the state of our prisons. They are in there because they committed a crime, if they do not like it they should have thought of that before they offended," he says.

"If we lived in a society where we could not afford to house inmates, then I would believe in corporal punishment because you would not want them unpunished and posing a danger to society.

"But we can afford to house them, so we must do it in a way that is humane but also fair."

Victims of Crime commissioner Michael O'Connell says opinions are mixed on how inmates should be treated.

"Although many victims feel sentences are too lenient, when asked about other alternatives they may consider it is not uncommon for victims to talk about rehabilitation and assisting the offender not to repeat their crimes," he says.

Picking up my belongings after a restless night, I walk through the huge front gates of the prison. I do not look back.

Originally published as My night locked up with criminals