'I knew Terry and Jade were there for me' (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

'I knew Terry and Jade were there for me'

Mother and child reunion: Angela at home with daughter Jade. DA4954P01Angela Cannings recalls how she coped with life behind bars

THROUGHOUT her 20-month "prison hell", Angela said she was faced with two choices - beat the system or go under.

As soon as Mrs Justice Heather Hallett, at Winchester Crown Court, sentenced her to life in prison, Angela was taken down and transferred to Eastwood Park Prison, in Gloucestershire.

"The first two to three months, I was very low," she said.

"I felt I wasn't going to be able to cope, but as time went on, I just seemed to pull myself back and say, 'Well, first of all I'm innocent and I know my legal team are going to fight for me, and secondly I've got Terry and Jade'.

"Those were the only things I could hold on to - the fact that Terry and Jade were there for me, and friends and family, too."

Angela stayed at Eastwood for six months but, because the prison had no lifer unit, she was told she had to be transferred, and she was taken to Durham high security prison.

"Durham is miles away and, when I got there, I was told that I wasn't going to see Jade.

"Some of my family did come up to see me but it was a 12-hour round trip.

"It was a horrible time and Durham is a really hard prison - you literally had to watch your back all the time."

Fortunately, Angela was only kept in Durham for a couple of months. In October 2002, she was transferred to Bullwood Prison, in Essex.

Her spirits rose at the thought of being closer to home but after just two days, she was attacked.

Two inmates, convinced of her guilt, threw scalding coffee over her and Angela was rushed to the prison's hospital, where she spent the next two weeks.

The incident left her with a permanent scar on her chest but, ironically, Angela said it marked a bit of a turning point.

"As soon as I came back on to the wing, the girls rallied round me, and from then on they were very supportive," she said.

"If the attack hadn't happened, it would have taken me some time to get used to everybody."

Angela was in Bullwood at the same time as former Salisbury schoolgirl Sally Clark, but Angela arrived in the October and Sally was released the following January.

"Sally had a very close friend inside and used to keep herself to herself," said Angela.

"But we used to pass each other and say 'hello'."

Angela made one good friend while inside, a woman called Rose, and, although Rose is still in Bullwood, they have remained good friends.

"She moved into the cell next door to me," said Angela.

"She talked a lot of sense and, whenever I was down, she would come in with a cup of coffee and a cigarette.

"Rose kept me going and when she was low I would try and help her - it's people like her you don't forget."