Moment in again of jail van after 5 bottles of wine modified mum’s life ceaselessly

Lilly Lewis found herself struck by a profound realisation during what should have been her rock bottom. At 53 years old, the mum-of-four was en route to begin her jail sentence when inspiration hit her in the back of the prison van.

Despite a life marred by addiction and harmful relationships, and now staring down at a six-year sentence, it dawned on Lilly that this was her moment to turn things around. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, she admitted: “The day I was sentenced, I knew my life was going to get better.” She envisaged supporting her fellow inmates and raising awareness of the struggles faced by women tangled in the criminal justice system.

“Sitting in the prison van, I knew I was going in and I was going to support people. Six months into my sentence, I contacted the sentencing judge. I wanted to thank him for my sentence.”

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Lilly shared her gratitude with the judge, saying: “I told him he had given me the gift of time – time I had never had in my life. I intended to use it to become a better person and a better parent.”

Abandoned at birth due to being half-Jamaican, and adopted at two, Lilly’s tumultuous start in life laid down a rocky road which led her to battle with mental health issues and eventually succumb to drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms.

At her lowest point, she was guzzling down up to five bottles of wine every single day and revealed: “I self-medicated with alcohol and cocaine.

“In the end, I was drinking five bottles of wine a day. I didn’t leave the house.”

She recounted the nightmare years tangled in destructive relationships that only fueled her descent into drugs and booze.

Her life hit rock bottom in 2016 with a staggering six years and seven months behind bars handed down at the Birmingham Crown Court for her role in a dodgy fraud scheme. During the two-year wait on bail before her sentence, Lilly’s battle with addiction worsened dramatically.

“I don’t ever remember being sober around one specific boyfriend,” she admitted, revealing the terrifying depths of her substance battles, including two attempts on her own life. Yet somehow, in the bleakness of prison life, Lilly found a silver lining – a chance to confront her demons head-on and dream of a brighter tomorrow.

Describing her incarceration, she shared a stark insight: “Prison was the safest I had ever been because I had been through so much trauma and abuse.

“But there was also a lack of hope. There was so much hopelessness among the women. The majority were repeat offenders, most of them trapped in cycles of crime while trying to beat substance issues.

Lilly experienced the flawed systems within prison first hand, having been moved from HMP Foston Hall, HMP New Hall, HMP Styal, HMP Drake Hall to HMP Askham Grange. She witnessed violence between inmates and other crimes.

However, she refers to prison as her “safe space” – a place that allowed her to use the time to better herself and gain 11 qualifications. By December 2019, when she was released, Lilly was committed to supporting other women and advocating for reform in the criminal justice system.

“I continued to support women and highlight, on any platform, the inadequacies of the criminal justice system – particularly for women,” she stated. “From what I saw, there wasn’t any real rehabilitation. I witnessed a lot of violence between women and widespread substance misuse. The most broken people I have ever met were in prison.”

Now sober and dedicated to helping others, Lilly has found a new sense of purpose, working tirelessly since her release to highlight the struggles women face in the criminal justice system.

She works full-time for several charities and her own Community Interest Company (CIC), using her experiences to support others facing similar challenges. In 2024, she founded Watering Your Soul CIC, a community-focused initiative dedicated to providing vital support to women who have experienced domestic violence, substance misuse, homelessness and the impacts of the criminal justice system, including child removal.

Operating with a trauma-informed approach, the organisation aims to advocate for and highlight women who have faced these challenges. It nurtures emotional health through creative workshops, inspiring content, and supportive resources.

The service also offers an out-of-hours programme to meet immediate needs, as well as an emergency essentials initiative, providing vital resources such as clothing, phones, and food to help women regain their independence and stability.

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