Bob Richards and Steve Shepherd are two Ex Prison Officers with 43 years’ experience between them. They joined the Service at different times and met in the visits department at HMP Belmarsh, where they formed a friendship that will last a lifetime.
They looked out for each other while working with some of Britain’s most dangerous and notorious prisoners, including murderers, rapists, terrorists, drug dealers and armed robbers. They managed to do this every day with a sense of humour and a sense of pride.
About the Author
My name is Bob Richards whilst working in the Prison Service I was known as ‘Bob the chair’ this nick name is explained in my book A Tale of Two Screws. I joined the Prison Service in 1987 and served for 28 years before being forced to medically retire, my first posting was HMP Brixton I transferred to HMP Belmarsh four years later. I have worked with all Categories of prisoners and all offences. I was prompted to write this book by my good friend and co-author Steve ‘Shep’ Shepherd, the stories contained in the book are true events that happened to the pair of us. The book is not meant to be procedural by rather it is written as friends sitting in a tea room telling their war stories, the first part of the book until 2005 when Shep left the service is just as I have said, the second part of the book is when I changed departments and demonstrates the range of offences and the types of prisoners that commit those offences. Hopefully the book will give an insight into the day to day relationships between prisoners and officers.