GRAPE ESCAPE
Prisoners restoring jail vines
PRISONERS are tending Britain’s first jail vineyard – but they have been banned from turning the grapes into wine.
Rather than convert their cells to cellars, they will instead produce only grape juice which can then be sold in the prison’s farm shop.
A source told us: “It’s not really worth the risk to start fermenting their own booze.
“They’re at the end of their sentences, so any breaches of discipline like that would see them returned to a
closed prison and mean their release dates would be delayed. That said, it might still be tempting to brew up a batch of prison house wine.
“Perhaps they could call it the Grapes of Wrath.” The vineyard is at East Sutton Park women’s jail near Maidstone, Kent.
It is based in a stately home, parts of which date back to the 1570s.
The country pile was first turned into a prison in 1946. Before that, grapes grown on the estate were made into wine for guests. A team of prison gardeners are now restoring the vines.
While wine may be off the table, it is not the first time wine and crime have been linked. One popular brand on UK shelves is called Most Wanted.
And Aussie winemaker 19 Crimes uses mugshots of criminals from the 19th century on its bottle labels.
The prison service has teams of sniffer dogs trained to uncover contraband.
Inmates have been known to ferment leftover fruit and bread in cleaning product containers to beat detection.
Bin bag “bottles” have been found hidden in coat sleeves and trouser legs.