Spectrum 403 and Spectrum 404. Life on the inside

Rights Information
Year
1982
Reference
21519
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
1982
Reference
21519
Media type
Audio
Duration
00:53:48
Credits
RNZ Collection
Berry, Ken, 1925-, Speaker/Kaikōrero
Perkins, Jack (b.1940), Producer

Spectrum was a weekly radio documentary series which ran on Radio New Zealand's National station from 1972 to 2016. Alwyn Owen and Jack Perkins produced the series for many years, creating a valuable library of New Zealand oral history.

At the age of 46, well-educated, sophisticated Ken Berry was sentenced to four years in prison for embezzlement. He came to know criminals of all shades, even the notorious drugs boss Terry Clark of "Mr Asia" fame. He tells his story to Jack Perkins in this two-part Spectrum documentary.

Ken Berry was an accountant when he started forging cheques and TAB tickets. Betting on long shots in horse racing became an addiction. He claims to have loathed fiddling the books. This continued for eight years before he was caught, convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to four years prison in 1972.

He recalls his time as an inmate of Wi Tako Prison [later Rimutaka Prison] and reads passages from his book 'First Offender'. Prison culture is described, with its beatings, bigotry and prejudice. At 46 he was much older than most of the young inmates, and compares it to being back in school. A fan of classical music Berry was annoyed by the ever-present commercial radio stations playing in prison.

Berry tells of taking up boxing and football, unsuccessful aversion therapy to stop him gambling, and of operating the prison knitting machine. He also formed an inmates’ choir, and praises Malcolm Rickard, conductor of the Orpheus Choir, who allowed them to participate in some performances.

Various characters are described. He talks about getting to know child sex offenders and seeing some humanity in them. He describes Terry Clark, who he says carried out a robbery of a bookmaker while out on Sunday parole.

He says Clark's visitors would bring him drugs in prison and he recalls sharing a tab of LSD with Clark.

He recalls the transsexual and transvestite inmates with affection, noting they were always referred to as 'she' by the inmates. He remembers visiting the Royal Oak Tavern in Wellington and meeting up with a former transsexual inmate.

He says Māori and Polynesian inmates made up two-thirds of the prison population and were the 'kings' of the prison. He used to attend Māori language classes run by Koro Dewes from Victoria University. He says there was racial banter between Māori and Pacific Island inmates but most of it was good-natured. He notes the number of Māori being imprisoned for minor crimes is horrific.

Wi Tako was a low-security prison and he recalls the possibility for getting out from time to time.

Berry says he will never really reform, but is deterred from offending by not being able to face prison again.

He served 32 months and says he was able to rehabilitate himself by writing his book.