ITEMS of clothing issued to UK prisoners have illegally made their way onto eBay, it has emerged.
Pairs of trousers, a jumper and a jacket are among some of the prison clothes for sale on the site.
Usually, prison issued clothes are handed back to the store for reuse upon an inmate’s release.
But some prisons have allowed inmates to leave in their prison issue clothes if they have nothing else to wear.
The sale of prison-issued imates’ clothing is illegal, HM Prison Service says.
However, a quick search by Examiner Live uncovered several items – ostensibly made or worn in Yorkshire prisons – for sale.
One even claimed to have been “smuggled” out of category A HMP Wakefield, aka ‘Monster Mansion’, where the most dangerous offenders in England and Wales are kept under lock and key.
Some of the items, either listed under ‘prison memorabilia’ or the main clothes section, are considered collectable and can fetch a high price.
Here are some of the items we found for sale.
HMP Wakefield officers’ trousers
You can buy a pair of these pants with a label which says ‘Made at HMP Wakefield’ for £14.99. There are modest discounts if you buy more than one pair.
According to the listing, the trousers were “made by prisoners in workshops in HMP Wakefield”.
It adds, “These prison made clothes by prisoners are rare to come by and collectable. These came in a one-off box smuggled out. No outer packaging or sealed [sic]. They come loose as made but have all the genuine HMP labels sewn in as should be.”
One Ebay vendor is selling pairs of these basic, mid-blue pants – made at the category C jail, near Wetherby – for £19.97. There’s £1 off if you buy two pairs.
HMP Leeds jumper
This XL crew neck sweater was apparently made in HMP Manchester, aka Strangeways, but issued at HMP Leeds. One of the sleeves appears to have been stamped with ‘LDS’ which would indicate it was issued at the Armley jail.
The seller wants upwards of £30 for it.
According to the label, this extra-large denim jacket is a ‘Full Sutton product’. But while it may have been made at the category A prison east of York, it was worn by a former inmate during his time inside HMP Norwich, the vendor says.
The jacket is on sale for £55.
The seller says: “I bought this off of a man who had turned his life around and after coming out of Norwich Prison.
– mirror.co.uk
