'Black Eye Fridays': When Strangeways' gangsters would settle their debts - or face the consequences
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA former prison officer at Strangeways has revealed how inmates settled scores on a specific day. Neil "Sam" Samworth, the author of two books on his experiences 'inside', worked at the prison for eleven years and crossed paths with some of the country's most notorious criminals.
He said Fridays were known as "Black Eye Fridays" because that was the day debts were called in. "People who owed had to go the canteen and deliver a tray of goodies to the person they owed.
And if you did not pay up you got a black eye," he explained. "So if a prisoner builds up a cannabis debt and they can't pay, they might be forced to carry out violence.
They might be asked to throw hot water and sugar over someone, or even slash them with a home made knife (shank). Unfortunately if an offender builds up a drug debt and then are shipped out, the debt can be passed on to their cell mate.
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