How Russell Brand will have a ‘target on his back’ as a high security prisoner

Russell Brand ‘will have a target on his back’ and could be forced to buy cellmates new cars for protection, a former prisoner has told Metro.

The disgraced former comedian was jailed for 10 years and six months yesterday after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault.

The 51-year-old is understood to be locked up at HMP Wandsworth in south west London – a Victorian-era, 170-year-old prison where conditions have been described as ‘squalid’.

It’s a far cry from the luxuries Brand was used to at the height of his fame.

Due to his celebrity status and fortune, he is almost guaranteed to be on the Vulnerable Prisoner (VP) wing, where inmates are watched daily and assigned welfare officers who they can go to ‘for any issue’.

They will be discussing his behaviour, prison privileges – and making sure he doesn’t succumb to the ‘target on his back’.

Protection rackets

One ex-inmate, who was housed in the VP wing of Britain’s most notorious jails, told Metro those who have already been languishing inside Brand’s prison for years will be out for him.

But they won’t necessarily be looking for a fight, as one of Brand’s most appealing, but dangerous, attributes is his money.

He said: ‘Every wing has a clique of lads who are essentially “the muscle”. They will tell Brand they will offer him protection, but they will want something in return.’

During his time inside, he claims he saw a high profile prisoner buy ‘one of the bigger lads’ a brand new car for his girlfriend to use on the outside to visit the prison more regularly.

‘You can only ever have a maximum of around £1,000 in your prison account, so bigger “gifts” are transferred on the outside, usually to benefit the wives and girlfriends on the outside,’ he said.

‘What will keep Brand alive, is entertaining’

Brand needs to spend the first weeks just ‘sussing things out’ and not making too much of a show of himself, the ex-inmate tells us.

Soon enough, Brand will see himself moved from HMP Wandsworth to any Category B or C prison in the UK, where he will have to readjust all over again.

But after this, he can start to branch out. Infamous criminals have gained respect and helped shift the threat looming over them by simply doing their day jobs.

Serial killer Harold Shipman was said to have earned popularity on his wing by becoming the ‘unofficial doctor’ and giving people free check-ups after the regular medics inside the jail became too busy.

‘I was in a prison band and we even put on a charity gig inside the chapel at HMP Frankland once,’ the ex-inmate said. ‘He should lean into that, put on comedy gigs. Other prisoners will love that.’

Brand has a long road ahead of him

Brand must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence, meaning he will have at least a seven-year stint inside cell walls.

There are plenty of education classes at his disposal, but it’s the offending courses which count towards your parole dossier. But since Brand has so far denied his crimes, it’s not likely he will be willing to take these.

All of this counts towards being released on parole, meaning the sex offender could see himself serve his full 10-year and six-month sentence.

One of Brand’s victims, who chose to give her impact statement in court during sentencing, delivered it from behind a beige curtain.

She said: ‘For many years as his star was rising it was impossible to escape seeing him all over the media, being celebrated for his disgusting behaviour against women like it was all a joke.

‘There were many times I felt visibly sick at the sight of him parading around think he can get away with anything.’

The victim concluded her statement: ‘As they say a leopard may change its spots but at the end of the day it’s still a leopard and not a gazelle.’