Interview #42 | Beyond the Prison Bars: A Conversation with Ex-Governor Vanessa Frake-Harris MBE

British Murders with Stuart Blues

Stuart Blues

True Crime

4.7 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I welcome Vanessa Frake-Harris MBE to the show in this interview episode to discuss her book, 'The Governor: My Life Inside Britain's Most Notorious Prisons.'

Having worked for 16 years in a high-security women's prison dealing with the likes of Rosemary West and Myra Hindley, Vanessa Frake-Harris thought she'd seen it all. That was until she was transferred to the notorious Wormwood Scrubs.

Thrust into a 'man's world', her no-nonsense approach and fearless attitude saw her swiftly rise through the ranks. From dealing with celebrity criminals and busting drug rings to recruiting informers and being subject to violent attacks, her hard-hitting but often humorous memoir reveals all about life behind bars in unflinching detail.

Vanessa was awarded an MBE for her work for the prison service in 2012. She retired early from the prison service, after 26 years, while the Government funding was still in place and things were going well in her job as she wanted to go out on a high.

More recently, in a complete career change, she baked cakes at Angela Reed's Cafe in Saffron Walden and volunteers at Wood Green Animal Sanctuary.

Vanessa's book was released on April 15, 2021, and is available to purchase here:

The Governor: My Life Inside Britain's Most Notorious Prisons | HarperCollins Publishers UK

***This interview was recorded on July 12, 2023.

For all things British Murders, please visit my website:

https://www.britishmurders.com/

Intro music:

David John Brady - 'Throw Down the Gauntlet'

https://linktr.ee/davidjohnbradymusic

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast contains elements that may be alarming to some listeners.
0:04.2	Listener discretion is advised.
0:06.4	You are now listening to British Brothers.
0:09.8	This will cry podcast. Right, Vanessa Freak Harris, welcome to the show.
0:27.9	We are live, we are recording, we are live and kicking.
0:31.0	How the hell are you?
0:32.6	I'm good, Stu.
0:33.5	Thanks very much for inviting me to the British Murders podcast.
0:37.4	I'm happy to be here and happy to chat.
0:40.6	It's a pleasure to have you on. So I managed to find a copy of your book. I was very cheeky when I messaged you.
0:47.0	I tried to get myself a free little copy, but it did get published a couple of years ago. I found it on Amazon Prime Reading, actually.
0:54.0	Did you know it's part of the Prime membership now that you can get a copy of years ago. I found it on Amazon Prime reading, actually. Did you know,
0:54.4	it's part of the Prime membership now that you can get a copy of that. Just if you're a member
0:59.5	of Prime, you can read that on your Kindle. Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you very much. I might
1:04.5	put that on my social media for anybody who's interested. It's worth doing. I don't know if that's a
1:09.8	recent thing Prime have been doing. I don't know if that's a recent thing Prime
1:10.8	have been doing. You can get certain books for free, but you're paying for prime, so it's not
1:16.8	100% free. Well, I'm pleased you haven't let Yorkshire downs down by getting a freebie.
1:25.7	Obviously, that's fine. So I've not finished it, admittedly, but I am a fair way through it, and I am really
1:30.7	enjoying it.
1:31.7	To confirm, it's called The Governor and the subtitle there, the unbelievable true story
1:36.7	of my life inside Britain's most notorious prisons.
	...

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