'Black Eye Fridays': When Strangeways' gangsters would settle their debts - or face the consequences
19.02.2024 - 19:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A former prison officer at Strangeways has revealed how inmates settled scores on a specific day. Neil "Sam" Samworth, the author of two books on his experiences 'inside', worked at the prison for eleven years and crossed paths with some of the country's most notorious criminals.
He said Fridays were known as "Black Eye Fridays" because that was the day debts were called in. "People who owed had to go the canteen and deliver a tray of goodies to the person they owed. And if you did not pay up you got a black eye," he explained.
"So if a prisoner builds up a cannabis debt and they can't pay, they might be forced to carry out violence. They might be asked to throw hot water and sugar over someone, or even slash them with a home made knife (shank). Unfortunately if an offender builds up a drug debt and then are shipped out, the debt can be passed on to their cell mate. I have seen that happen."
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He also explained that prison officers sometimes used established criminals to help keep the peace on the wing: "There is always a head on a wing. For example at Strangeways we had people like Paul Massey and Paul Doyle from Salford. You could ask them to have a word with people who were causing issues. You would just ask them to have a quiet word, and use their clout to settle things down."
Mr Samworth has claimed that the attack on Roy Whiting, was likely caused by petty prison disagreement, not because of his previous convictions. The paedophile murderer of eight-year-old schoolgirl Sarah Payne, who he snatched off the street in July 2000, was stabbed by another prisoner at Wakefield prison.
Whiting, 65, was said to have been left covered in blood after the