A Prisoner at Dartmoor Jail sees a Wild Hairy Man killing a Bird.

In 2016 I received an email from a gentleman whose brother was in Prison, he was housed in Dartmoor Jail, and his cell looked out onto the B3357 road that was close to the prison itself and had a small wooded area adjacent to it. Dartmoor still has a misplaced reputation for being a high-security prison that is escape-proof. Now it is merely a Category C prison, Dartmoor houses mainly non-violent offenders and white-collar criminals.

The gent went on to explain that his brother was in prison and was almost finished with his sentence, he had received a number of ‘home leaves’ and on the one this previous weekend (Jan 2016) had seemed even more reluctant to return than he had on the other day releases. As you can imagine this poor man’s mind filled with all the horrors being in prison can bring and he gently coaxed his brother into revealing what the problem was. Expecting to hear about a violent attack or bullying by other prisoners he couldn't quite believe what his brother told him.

He went on to explain that from his cell he can see 2 small wooded areas and out over the moors, which in a sense had enabled him to really appreciate the beauty out there and he would watch the woods constantly for something to do at first, but then as he learnt the habits of the birds and woodland animals he would eventually come to revel in watching the wildlife, as most of the prisoners at HMP Dartmoor are restricted to their cells for up to 23 hrs a day most days. Even in the Autumn and Winter there had been lots going on out there to keep him occupied. On the previous Saturday night before the gents ‘home leave the following Friday’ he was watching the woods after lights out and waiting for the bats and owls to start their day he suddenly noticed a strange dark figure hugging the treeline. He thought at first it was another prisoner who had struck lucky and managed a few hours of escapism out there or was setting out to retrieve a ‘parcel’ left by somebody to be smuggled in at the most opportune time.
 

Thinking that time had come, he watched with a smile wondering how the ‘inmate’ was going to get back in. Being caught breaking into the prison would make for a funny ‘write up’ when they took him before the governor. As he watched this dark human figure move up and down through the wood he realised the ‘person’ was looking up into the tree branches and not down on the floor as you would expect.

As the clouds shifted the figure was suddenly illuminated by the moon and the prisoner looking for contraband looked like a wild hairy man who was really thick and muscle bound. As he watched the figure picked up a stick from the ground besides him, hurled it into the tree. The man watched as a small animal or bird fell down from above and was quickly pushed into the mouth of the naked hairy prisoner.

As you can imagine the gent was horrified at this scene and blinked and adjusted his eyes as quickly as possible but the figure was gone. He watched those woods all night in case the figure returned and did so every day until he got a slight reprieve when he came home to us this Friday. Taking him back was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Thankfully he only has 3 weeks left but I bet he will watch that wood every night until then.

Bob H