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Inside Doncatraz: A Prison Diary
A first time prisoner recording the day to day experiences of life inside one of Britain's privately run jails.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 24, 2016
30 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
craig lowndes
5 books3 followersCraig Duncan Lowndes was born in May 1976 in Staffordshire. By the time he was twenty-nine, Craig had made his first million and retired to a life of sun, sea and sangria on the island of Tenerife; Seven years later, due to some disastrous investments, poor life decisions and the Spanish property crash - all of his hard-earned money was gone. Cunningly, he used his knowledge and business acumen to make money through illegal means.
Unfortunately, Craig’s luck ran out in 2014 when he was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for masterminding a £1.8 million VAT fraud; he served the first six months of his sentence in HMP Doncaster, where he recorded the day-to-day life of a first-time prisoner.
‘Doncatraz- A Prison Diary’ - Craig’s first success at writing, which was published in 2016, while he was still serving the remainder of his sentence in HMP Sudbury.
Remorseful of his actions in what he refers to as his former life, now Craig works as a full-time plumber but still manages to put time aside for writing. After a huge amount of success, with the prison diary – which sold in its thousands - Craig tried his hand at crime fiction. He used his criminal experiences along with some of the characters he encountered in prison as inspiration for his books. Craig’s first fiction book ‘Screwed’ was published in 2017 with the prequel ‘Vodka And Tonic’ scheduled for November 2018. Craig uses ‘being there, seeing it and doing it’ to inspire his works of fiction
Unfortunately, Craig’s luck ran out in 2014 when he was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for masterminding a £1.8 million VAT fraud; he served the first six months of his sentence in HMP Doncaster, where he recorded the day-to-day life of a first-time prisoner.
‘Doncatraz- A Prison Diary’ - Craig’s first success at writing, which was published in 2016, while he was still serving the remainder of his sentence in HMP Sudbury.
Remorseful of his actions in what he refers to as his former life, now Craig works as a full-time plumber but still manages to put time aside for writing. After a huge amount of success, with the prison diary – which sold in its thousands - Craig tried his hand at crime fiction. He used his criminal experiences along with some of the characters he encountered in prison as inspiration for his books. Craig’s first fiction book ‘Screwed’ was published in 2017 with the prequel ‘Vodka And Tonic’ scheduled for November 2018. Craig uses ‘being there, seeing it and doing it’ to inspire his works of fiction
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 28, 2021
A really good read, my only criticism is there are quite a lot of grammatical errors but you can understand what Craig was trying to say.
It's interesting as I have read about state run prisons and the experiences seem very different.
It's refreshing to read a prisoners point of view that realises and is grateful that he has it much better and easier than some prisons he may have ended up in such as Armley, although I do wonder if it would have been entirely different or if Craig is the kind of guy to see the bright side and be positive.
I am definitely going to look out for and read more of his work in future.
I do like the way he writes so that when you read it, it is pronounced in the local dialect and as I am from Yorkshire I could really hear it.
I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in what life is like behind bars or has an interest in memoirs.
It's interesting as I have read about state run prisons and the experiences seem very different.
It's refreshing to read a prisoners point of view that realises and is grateful that he has it much better and easier than some prisons he may have ended up in such as Armley, although I do wonder if it would have been entirely different or if Craig is the kind of guy to see the bright side and be positive.
I am definitely going to look out for and read more of his work in future.
I do like the way he writes so that when you read it, it is pronounced in the local dialect and as I am from Yorkshire I could really hear it.
I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in what life is like behind bars or has an interest in memoirs.
August 9, 2023
enjoyable and insightful
Needs proofreading but otherwise it was an interesting read. Prison must be awful and clearly having people who can truthfully advise you is a bonus. Not that I ever intend going to prison!
Needs proofreading but otherwise it was an interesting read. Prison must be awful and clearly having people who can truthfully advise you is a bonus. Not that I ever intend going to prison!
November 12, 2023
This was such a good read, it really gave me an insight into what prison life was like in Doncatraz for Craig. He talks about the different things he experiences on a day to a day and also talks about how his many appeals to become a category D prisoner.
Definitely an eye-opener!
Definitely an eye-opener!
February 21, 2025
a good read
I really enjoyed this book.
A good perspective of prison life from the good to bad things that happened.
I could imagine what the life of the writer must have felt like living inside that small cell and how he tried to make the best of a horrible time.
I really enjoyed this book.
A good perspective of prison life from the good to bad things that happened.
I could imagine what the life of the writer must have felt like living inside that small cell and how he tried to make the best of a horrible time.
January 15, 2017
Good book
Only comment I have is tornado teams are specially trained prison staff not police officers I really enjoyed reading this
Only comment I have is tornado teams are specially trained prison staff not police officers I really enjoyed reading this
January 1, 2023
great story
Really enjoyed reading this book it gave a very good insight into prison life some parts are funny and other parts sad
Really enjoyed reading this book it gave a very good insight into prison life some parts are funny and other parts sad
June 18, 2017
I spotted this book and had to read it. Its great it captures the life inside perfectly. As a prison worker its nice to see it from the other side of the bars. I am looking forward to seeing what else happened to Craig once he left.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews