By . Jack Doyle . PUBLISHED: . 19:14 EST, 11 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 21:10 EST, 11 March 2013 . In a text message to his son, Chris Huhne wrote he had ‘no intention of sending Mum to Holloway Prison’. But that is exactly where Vicky Pryce was last night as she began her eight-month jail sentence. Conditions in the prison, Europe’s largest women’s jail, will be a world away from her £2million Clapham townhouse ten miles across London. Behind bars: Chris Huhne (left, arriving at court with partner Carina Trimingham) will be starting his eight month sentence at Wandsworth Prison, while Vicky Pryce (right) will be at Holloway Prison . Victorian walls: Wandsworth Prison, in South London, which is home to 1,600 hardened cons . Institution: HMP Holloway Prison holds up to 500 criminals from murderesses to petty thieves . The jail, which holds up to 500 criminals from murderesses to petty thieves, has a reputation as a brutal and unrelenting institution where bullying and pilfering is rife. Petty squabbles frequently erupt into violence. Huhne’s destination was similarly bleak: the Victorian walls of Category B Wandsworth Prison in South London, which is home to 1,600 hardened cons. Both the former Cabinet minister and his economist ex-wife were ferried from the court in the back of a prison van known as the ‘sweatbox’ which carries convicted felons to nearby prisons. On arrival at Holloway, Pryce’s handcuffs will have been removed and she will have stood in line with the other arrivals waiting to be processed. After a pat down search (women inmates are not required to strip) for any contraband, she will have confirmed her personal details to a prison officer, including her name and date of birth. She will have handed over her purse, handbag, keys and mobile phone to be placed into secure storage, have had her fingerprints taken and have posed for a prison mugshot. Like all other women prisoners she will be allowed to wear her own clothes while behind bars. Vicky Pryce (left) outside her South London home, prior to being sentenced for perverting the course of justice, and Chris Huhne (right) leaving his home in central London on Sunday . Holloway has a mixture of cells: single, shared between two and larger dorms. But a prison source said it was unlikely Pryce would have to share. Her high profile and wealth leave her more open to threats and blackmail – and prison bosses will want to ensure she comes to no harm. Holloway has a gym, pool table and hairdressing salon and televisions in cells, but the institution and its occupants will still be a terrifying prospect for Pryce. A recent inspection report exposed widespread bullying and violence. As well as violent drug addicts, prostitutes and petty villains, the prison holds lifers with little to lose. Former residents include Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, and Rochelle Etherington, 21, who beat her neighbour to death. A Wandsworth Prison officer watches over the cells on E wing . Huhne’s new neighbours behind Wandsworth’s walls will be no more savoury, from violent killers to armed robbers, thugs and burglars. Unlike his wife, he will have no choice about what he can wear behind bars. At the weekend it emerged he once visited a stylist to get his ‘colours’ done – before throwing out any shirts and ties that didn’t match recommended tones. But at ‘Wanno’, it will be prison-issue blue trousers or jeans and grey sweatshirt. If he wants a haircut, it will be the prison barber, rather than his usual £75 affair. He too is unlikely to be in a shared cell, even after he is transferred onto a main wing of the prison after a few days of acclimatisation. His cell will have a television and a toilet at the end of the bed, which has a duvet and a single pillow. Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, is among the former residents of Holloway Prison . Jonathan Aitken, another onetime cabinet minister jailed for lying, writes in his autobiography of the terrifying chants other inmates struck up when the lights went out, describing how they wanted to hurt him. He writes: ‘I do not think I have ever felt more lonely, more frightened or more vulnerable.’ Huhne’s notoriety means he can expect similar treatment. Both he and his ex-wife will be grateful their stays in central London jails will be short. After a week or two at most they will be moved to a low security ‘open prison’, probably East Sutton Park in Maidstone, Kent, for her and he to Ford Open in West Sussex. Under these low security Category D conditions both will have more freedom to leave their cells, mix with other white collar criminals and take part in prison activities. Both are likely to be granted early release after just a quarter of their sentence, and will return home wearing an electronic tag and under a strict eight-hour curfew. But last night that will have felt a long way away. After processing at their respective prisons, each was handed a simple arrival pack containing basic toiletries such as a soap and a toothbrush and a chocolate bar. Both will have been allowed a shower . and then a short phone call of a few minutes. Then it will be off to the . cells, the key turning in the lock and then lights out. Mark . Leech,an ex-convict turned prisons expert and editor of inmates . newspaper Converse, believes Huhne will be deemed at risk to self harm . or even suicide and placed in the prison hospital. ‘He . has fallen an incredible distance from grace in a very short space of . time, until recently he was in complete denial of his offence and this . is his first time in prison,’ he said. ‘He’s a convict now, no different to . anyone else in the prison and he needs to knuckle down, accept his fate . and get on with progressing through the prison system’ - Mark Leech, ex-con and editor of inmates newspaper Converse . ‘As such he bears on his face all the classic hallmarks of a person susceptible to self harm and suicide.’ The cells in Wandsworth are 12ft by 7ft with a window high in the back wall and a toilet and wash basin behind a small modesty screen in the corner. Huhne will have to leave fine dining behind for now, as he is presented with typical Wandsworth grub, such as a stew dubbed the ‘mystery bowl’ and a cup of a bitter tea known as ‘diesel’. Mr Leech said he expected Huhne to be mocked by his fellow prisoners and even by the prison staff – with jibes about his privileged background almost inevitable. Mr Leech added: ‘Life as he has known it before today will never be the same again. It’s important to his safety that he doesn’t put on airs and graces. ‘He’s a convict now, no different to anyone else in the prison and he needs to knuckle down, accept his fate and get on with progressing through the prison system.’
Vicky Pryce began her eight month sentence at Holloway Prison .
Chris Huhne's destination was the Victorian walls of Wandsworth Prison .
Huhne will be deemed 'at risk to self harm or suicide', says prison expert .
By . Jack Doyle . PUBLISHED: . 19:14 EST, 11 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 21:10 EST, 11 March 2013 . In a text message to his son, Chris Huhne wrote he had ‘no intention of sending Mum to Holloway Prison’. But that is exactly where Vicky Pryce was last night as she began her eight-month jail sentence. Conditions in the prison, Europe’s largest women’s jail, will be a world away from her £2million Clapham townhouse ten miles across London. Behind bars: Chris Huhne (left, arriving at court with partner Carina Trimingham) will be starting his eight month sentence at Wandsworth Prison, while Vicky Pryce (right) will be at Holloway Prison . Victorian walls: Wandsworth Prison, in South London, which is home to 1,600 hardened cons . Institution: HMP Holloway Prison holds up to 500 criminals from murderesses to petty thieves . The jail, which holds up to 500 criminals from murderesses to petty thieves, has a reputation as a brutal and unrelenting institution where bullying and pilfering is rife. Petty squabbles frequently erupt into violence. Huhne’s destination was similarly bleak: the Victorian walls of Category B Wandsworth Prison in South London, which is home to 1,600 hardened cons. Both the former Cabinet minister and his economist ex-wife were ferried from the court in the back of a prison van known as the ‘sweatbox’ which carries convicted felons to nearby prisons. On arrival at Holloway, Pryce’s handcuffs will have been removed and she will have stood in line with the other arrivals waiting to be processed. After a pat down search (women inmates are not required to strip) for any contraband, she will have confirmed her personal details to a prison officer, including her name and date of birth. She will have handed over her purse, handbag, keys and mobile phone to be placed into secure storage, have had her fingerprints taken and have posed for a prison mugshot. Like all other women prisoners she will be allowed to wear her own clothes while behind bars. Vicky Pryce (left) outside her South London home, prior to being sentenced for perverting the course of justice, and Chris Huhne (right) leaving his home in central London on Sunday . Holloway has a mixture of cells: single, shared between two and larger dorms. But a prison source said it was unlikely Pryce would have to share. Her high profile and wealth leave her more open to threats and blackmail – and prison bosses will want to ensure she comes to no harm. Holloway has a gym, pool table and hairdressing salon and televisions in cells, but the institution and its occupants will still be a terrifying prospect for Pryce. A recent inspection report exposed widespread bullying and violence. As well as violent drug addicts, prostitutes and petty villains, the prison holds lifers with little to lose. Former residents include Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, and Rochelle Etherington, 21, who beat her neighbour to death. A Wandsworth Prison officer watches over the cells on E wing . Huhne’s new neighbours behind Wandsworth’s walls will be no more savoury, from violent killers to armed robbers, thugs and burglars. Unlike his wife, he will have no choice about what he can wear behind bars. At the weekend it emerged he once visited a stylist to get his ‘colours’ done – before throwing out any shirts and ties that didn’t match recommended tones. But at ‘Wanno’, it will be prison-issue blue trousers or jeans and grey sweatshirt. If he wants a haircut, it will be the prison barber, rather than his usual £75 affair. He too is unlikely to be in a shared cell, even after he is transferred onto a main wing of the prison after a few days of acclimatisation. His cell will have a television and a toilet at the end of the bed, which has a duvet and a single pillow. Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, is among the former residents of Holloway Prison . Jonathan Aitken, another onetime cabinet minister jailed for lying, writes in his autobiography of the terrifying chants other inmates struck up when the lights went out, describing how they wanted to hurt him. He writes: ‘I do not think I have ever felt more lonely, more frightened or more vulnerable.’ Huhne’s notoriety means he can expect similar treatment. Both he and his ex-wife will be grateful their stays in central London jails will be short. After a week or two at most they will be moved to a low security ‘open prison’, probably East Sutton Park in Maidstone, Kent, for her and he to Ford Open in West Sussex. Under these low security Category D conditions both will have more freedom to leave their cells, mix with other white collar criminals and take part in prison activities. Both are likely to be granted early release after just a quarter of their sentence, and will return home wearing an electronic tag and under a strict eight-hour curfew. But last night that will have felt a long way away. After processing at their respective prisons, each was handed a simple arrival pack containing basic toiletries such as a soap and a toothbrush and a chocolate bar. Both will have been allowed a shower . and then a short phone call of a few minutes. Then it will be off to the . cells, the key turning in the lock and then lights out. Mark . Leech,an ex-convict turned prisons expert and editor of inmates . newspaper Converse, believes Huhne will be deemed at risk to self harm . or even suicide and placed in the prison hospital. ‘He . has fallen an incredible distance from grace in a very short space of . time, until recently he was in complete denial of his offence and this . is his first time in prison,’ he said. ‘He’s a convict now, no different to . anyone else in the prison and he needs to knuckle down, accept his fate . and get on with progressing through the prison system’ - Mark Leech, ex-con and editor of inmates newspaper Converse . ‘As such he bears on his face all the classic hallmarks of a person susceptible to self harm and suicide.’ The cells in Wandsworth are 12ft by 7ft with a window high in the back wall and a toilet and wash basin behind a small modesty screen in the corner. Huhne will have to leave fine dining behind for now, as he is presented with typical Wandsworth grub, such as a stew dubbed the ‘mystery bowl’ and a cup of a bitter tea known as ‘diesel’. Mr Leech said he expected Huhne to be mocked by his fellow prisoners and even by the prison staff – with jibes about his privileged background almost inevitable. Mr Leech added: ‘Life as he has known it before today will never be the same again. It’s important to his safety that he doesn’t put on airs and graces. ‘He’s a convict now, no different to anyone else in the prison and he needs to knuckle down, accept his fate and get on with progressing through the prison system.’
starting his eight month sentence at Wandsworth Holloway Prison . Victorian walls: Wandsworth Huhne’s destination was similarly bleak: the Victorian walls of Category B Wandsworth Prison Converse, believes Huhne will be deemed at risk to self harm . or even suicide and placed in the