Try free for 30 days

  • Inside Parkhurst

  • Stories of a Prison Officer
  • By: David Berridge
  • Narrated by: David John
  • Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
  • 2.9 out of 5 stars (8 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Inside Parkhurst cover art

Inside Parkhurst

By: David Berridge
Narrated by: David John
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

The Fascinating Sunday Times Top 10 Best Seller

Assaults. Riots. Cell fires. Medical emergencies. Understaffed wings. Suicides. Hooch. Weapons. It's all in a week's work at HMP Parkhurst.

After 28 years working as a prison officer, with 22 years at HMP Parkhurst, once one of Britain's most high security prisons, David Berridge has had to deal with it all: serial killers and gangsters, terrorists and sex offenders, psychopaths and addicts. Inside Parkhurst is his raw, uncompromising look at what really goes on behind the massive walls and menacing gates.

Thrown in at the deep end, David quickly had to work out how to deal with the most cunning and volatile of prisoners, and learn how to avoid their many scams. He has been assaulted and abused; he has tackled cell fires and attempted suicides, riots and dirty protests; he has helped to foil escaped plans, talked inmates down from rooftop protests, witnessed prisoners setting fire to themselves, and prevented prisoners from attempting to murder other prisoners. And now he takes us inside this secret world for the first time.

With this searingly honest account, he guides us around the wings, the segregation unit, the hospital and the exercise yard, and gives vivid portraits of the drug-taking, the hooch-making, the constant and irrepressible violence and the extraordinary lengths our prison officers go to everyday. Divided into three parts - the first from David's early years on the wings, the second the middle of his career and the third his disillusioned later years - David will take listeners into the heart of life inside and shine a light on the escalating violence and the impact the government cuts are having on the wings.

Both horrifying and hilarious, David's diaries are guaranteed to shock and entertain in equal measure.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2020 David Berridge (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

More from the same

What listeners say about Inside Parkhurst

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Pre Order wasn't worth the wait

I didn't finish this book. I don't like the Narrators style in this book and in others. Missed the mark for me on many fronts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Leave this one in Solitary Confinement

I had this title in my wish list for a long time and boy do I wish that I had left it there. This is one that definitely should be in solitary confinement, it is incoherent and rambling with some recollections sounding like a teenagers diary! I swear that I never want to hear the word claret again or the explanations of minimum staffing levels etc. I would recommend that both the author and you listen to How to Escape from Prison by Paul Wood instead. This book has everything that this one does not with excellent narration and one with no holds barred.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not interesting stories, sounds smug

Had to stop listening to this book about half way through. The stories just weren’t that interesting, and the narrator tone was so smug and self satisfied that it really put me off. Not recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.