Prison clothing offered for sale on eBay

The boiler suit being offered on eBay.

31 December 2004 17:58

An investigation is under way tonight after a prison boiler suit appeared for sale on an internet auction site.

Its anonymous seller claims the garment, with a starting price of £150, was “sneaked out” of category C Blundeston Prison, near Lowestoft, by a former inmate.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer,” the description on eBay boasts.

“Large size, HMP Blundeston product 'escapee' suit, brand new with tag.”

The green and yellow suits are issued to so-called e-list prisoners, who are considered likely to attempt an escape, instead of the usual grey prison overalls.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said their bright colours made inmates who went on the run easier to spot than standard issue clothing.

“We can't imagine how a prisoner could have got hold of one let alone take it out,” she added.

“Prisoners are searched going in and out of prison, so smuggling out a whole boiler suit's going to be pretty hard.

“We will be trying to contact eBay.”

The seller, who calls himself c_a_r_t_a, says he is willing to post the garment anywhere in the world and is offering insured postage as an option.

He claims the suit was taken by an inmate serving eight years for robbing a security van, who had been working in the prison's clothing store.

“When getting released from prison, he sneaked the prison garment out, which is an extremely rare collectable to find outside a prison,” the auction site says.

“This cannot be found or purchased anywhere but here.”

The suit, with HM PRISON on the back, was put up for sale in a 10-day auction in eBay's Weird Stuff and Men's Fancy Dress/ Large categories at 7.15pm on Christmas Eve.

By this afternoon, with just over three days left to run, it had failed to attract any bids, though one person had been turned down after offering £50 by e-mail.

Tonight a spokesman for 450-inmate Blundeston said it was believed to be the first time an escapee suit had been advertised for sale outside the prison system.

“We have just been made aware of this. “We make the suits here, from where they are distributed around the country,” she said.

“We're looking into it, but this could have come from any prison.”

A police spokesman said: “If it was reported to us as a theft, we would investigate it.”

Neither eBay nor c_a_r_t_a could be contacted today.