Prison boots undesirable inmates with ‘Weakest Link’ ejection as lags forged votes

A prison has introduced a bizarre Weakest Link-style scheme for allowing inmates to get rid of their most irritating or troublemaking cellmates.

The Category B prison, meaning its home to highly dangerous prisoners for whom an escape must be made very difficult, allows fellow cons to kick out misbehaving roommates by way of a vote cast during regular “wing meetings”. Glendon Prison, in Buckinghamshire, generally only accepts well-behaved cons from other jails.

The inmates must then adhere to strict rules and if they fail to do that they can be exiled from the place by their peers, reports The Mirror. If booted out, they are made to return to the jail they originally came from.

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Inside each of the six jail wings a “commitment vote” can be help to expel an inmate if they think he is “unsuitable” for the 185-man jail. One source likened the process to Anne Robinson’s popular 2000s TV quiz.

Players on the Weakest Link could vote each other out and were infamously told: “You are the weakest link, goodbye. Five naughty inmates have been ordered out since the voting scheme was introduced.

A source said: “Prison bosses will try almost any kind of innovation to maintain order. This seems to be working well. No wants to be voted out by their peers.”

But to even get a place at Grendon, convicted criminals have to meet a bunch of specific criteria. That includes having 18 months to serve, being drug free for at least two months and they must not be considered an escape risk.

Each wing has around 30 prisoners and the men take part in daily group therapy sessions with doctors, psychiatric nurses and counsellors. They are taught various coping mechanisms to regulate their emotions in a bid to rehabilitate themselves.

A prisoner, calling themselves Adam Mac, has a blog about life in the jail where he writes about its entertainment from darts competitions to gigs. There are also ‘gym reps’ and ‘art reps’ to make life on the inside a little better.

He’s even referenced a ‘budgie rep’ for prisoners who are allowed to keep caged birds. Some are thought to keep their feathered-friends in their cells with them.

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