Former inmate warns Russell Brand faces 'hell on earth' at HMP Wandsworth after rape conviction

Russell Brand, 51, is now being held at HMP Wandsworth, one of the largest Victorian-era prisons in England, in south London. A week after a jury convicted him of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, he was sentenced on Monday to 10 years and six months.

Chris Atkins, who served eight months at Wandsworth for tax fraud, has described the place as "hell on earth". He says the first month is by far the hardest, and that the mental shock was enormous for him. He expects it to be ten times worse for Brand, given the nature of his offences and how far he has fallen. Atkins also pointed to the physical shock of being shut in what he called a dungeon for weeks, with nobody to talk to most of the time.

A source close to Brand offers a different picture, saying he is doing "remarkably well considering the circumstances". The same source says he has been moved out of isolation and onto a main wing of the prison.

A member of Wandsworth staff described the mood among inmates as one of "much excitement" at his arrival. Prisoners have reportedly been slamming cell doors and shouting his name, a diversion in a dull routine. The staff member added that there is anger too, because he has been convicted of rape, and said staff are very aware of that feeling.

Brand is likely still in a cell on his own. Such cells usually hold a bed, a basin and a toilet, and he may have a television and kettle depending on where he is housed. On arrival his phone, clothing and other valuables will have been taken from him. He will have been issued a grey prison tracksuit, which people who have been inside describe as itchy and often the wrong size. He will also have received a night pack of biscuits, teabags, a small bag of cereal, some sugar and a carton of milk. The Prison Reform Trust says the pack is meant to tide inmates over until they can buy goods from the prison shop.

Brand has presented himself as a Christian influencer, and inmates say he could register for the weekly Sunday service in the chapel. One said many sign up just to get out of their cells. They added that he could probably get regular time with the chaplain if he wanted it.

Money is harder. Inmates get it through prison work or from family, but former prisoners told the BBC that jobs in workshops, laundry rooms and libraries are limited. They say sex offenders find work even harder to get, because mixing with other inmates puts them at greater risk of assault. Staff at other prisons say Brand's fame and his offences could make him a target. One prison governor said heavy publicity around a trial highlights the offender's crimes and leaves him vulnerable to the inmates' own "justice" system of arbitrary beatings and assaults, especially in sex cases.

The paperwork is another hurdle. Phone numbers must be approved, and visitors must pass a series of checks, none of them quick. Atkins says nobody is usually on hand to explain the process, so newcomers work it out alone. It took him five weeks to see his young son. Brand, he notes, will not yet have anyone set up on his visitor account.

Nobody knows what comes next. In time Brand may be moved to a jail with a less harsh regime and more modern facilities. Under the guidelines, offenders jailed for four years or more for certain serious violent or sexual offences are released at the two-thirds point, which in his case would be seven years.