Duncan Ferguson reveals 'frightening' first question he was asked on first prison walk with inmates
Former Rangers star Duncan Ferguson became inmate number 12718 during his stay at Glasgow's Barlinnie prison - now he recounts his first walk outside his cell
My daily prison routine began with no frills. Prisoners woke up at 6.30am and headed to the communal shower area. Nothing could have prepared me for discovering what that pot in the corner of my room was really for, as I stood in line watching men depositing faeces and urine from their chamber pots into big sinks.
What did I expect? Proper sanitation? A disgrace, it was. From that morning onwards I would worry about who was standing at my back.
I needed eyes in the back of my head to avoid some scarface pouring his p*** and s*** on me. They all had scars inside Barlinnie. You could get cut to ribbons for £2 of credit on a phonecard. I was told about toothbrushes with razor blades moulded into the plastic – the weapon of choice. After slopping out, it was breakfast at 7am back in our cells. I had a boiled egg sat on the edge of my bed.
Then the cell doors were opened. I steeled myself. Should I leave my cell? I sat on the edge of my bed, thinking of the knives that might be waiting.
Come on, Dunc, take that step. I heard whispering: 'There's Dunc.' And then a louder voice from across the landing. 'D'ya want your hair cut, big fella?'
A boy wearing the regulation red shirt with white stripes stood there, holding a pair of scissors. How would I react? 'Yes, no problem, mate,' I said, and I walked across the gallery and over to the chair where I sat in front of him. I felt sick. This guy could stick his scissors in my throat. It was the most frightened I've ever been.
All of a sudden his hands dropped down on my shoulders, and I could see the scissors out of the corner of my eye. Just one stabbing motion away from my jugular. 'What will it be, big fella?'
'Short back and sides, wee man.' And he began to cut. My hair. It broke the ice. If I was going to get slashed, at least it wouldn't be by the barber of Barlinnie.
Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson, with Henry Winter, is published on 8th May by Century
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