'Model inmate' Sharon Collins faces four-year wait for release
Related Articles
IT is likely to be Christmas 2012 at the earliest before 'Lying Eyes' murder plotter Sharon Collins is a free woman again.
Although she was handed a six-year sentence yesterday, she will probably serve only another four years and two months behind bars when remission and time already served are taken into account.
Collins (45) is said to have settled in well as Prisoner No 46671 at Mountjoy's women's prison, the Dochas Centre, where she has spent the past four months.
Despite the relative celebrity status of the glamorous blonde, prison insiders say her stay at the jail has been "unremarkable" so far and that she has adapted well after a wobbly start.
The most noteworthy thing she has done since being convicted in July is strike up a friendship with 'black widow' Catherine Nevin.
A reliable prison source said Collins' stay in prison has been "without incident. She's been no trouble. In fact, she has been a very good prisoner.," the source said. Collins was initially kept under observation when she was first brought to the prison but was later transferred to the Laurel House unit of the prison, which she now shares with several other inmates, including hockey stick killer Tanya Lamb, who was convicted of her partner's manslaughter.
As the prison has no hairdresser, she has had her hair trimmed by inmates doing a hairdressing course. It is also understood she has been allowed to buy cosmetics, including fake tan, as a privilege for being a good prisoner. Collins has also been using the prison gym and exercise yard.
This is unsurprising as the prison menu is far from a bread and water regime.
The set menu for today -- the first Tuesday of the month -- includes a dinner of gammon steak, parsley sauce, cabbage and creamed potatoes.
- Shane Phelan
