Many famous names have been incarcerated at Brixton Prison, from Mick Jagger to the Kray twins and more recently the rapper Giggs to reality star Stephen Bear.
And now you can follow them by entering the South London jail without even having to commit a crime – by having afternoon tea for £37.50 in the old governor’s house.
The Clink charity which operates a restaurant at HMP Brixton has begun offering sandwiches, scones and pastries served by inmates being trained in hospitality.
The prisoners with three to 24 months of their sentence left can volunteer for the programme which is intended to simulate a professional working environment.
They go through full-time training at the Category C prison to gain a City & Guilds National Vocational Qualification that can help them into a job upon leaving.
Visitors are pictured at The Clink restaurant at HMP Brixton in South London in 2014
The Clink restaurant is located at the old governor’s house in the centre of the prison courtyard
Queen Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, visited The Clink at Brixton on February 4, 2016
Afternoon tea at The Clink costs £37.50 per person and is served in the old governor’s house
The restaurant is surrounded by six jail wings which can house up to 798 prisoners and is situated in the middle of the main courtyard, which dates back to 1819.
Brixton’s Clink restaurant opened in 2014 and has become a major success with diners, rated 54th out of 15,291 restaurants in London on TripAdvisor.
Many of the inmates are taken on by chains such as Wahaca and Carluccio’s, and Queen Camilla visited The Clink in 2016 when Duchess of Cornwall.
Guests at the restaurant are given plastic cutlery, alcohol and mobile phones are banned, the walls have panic buttons and the room features barred windows.
Now, it has expanded to open The Clink Bakery from the same location – with bread, cakes and other items produced on site by the bakery team and students.
The development comes after the project suffered controversy in 2017 when diners were found to have been smuggling drugs and mobile phones to inmates working in the kitchen.
A report by inspectors at the time said smuggled mobiles led to inmates setting up drug deliveries and being able to ‘maintain control of criminal enterprises’.
The Prison Service said at the time that anyone caught smuggling in contraband would ‘face the full force of the law’, and that HMP Brixton had invested in new sniffer dogs and dog handlers.
The afternoon tea has been taking place on alternate Fridays since July 5 and will run throughout the summer.
Sandwiches include egg mayonnaise and watercress on wholemeal bread; prosciutto, basil pesto and rocket on rosemary and sea salt focaccia; pickled cucumber, dill and cream cheese on white bloomer; or smoked trout and chive crème fraiche on rye bread.
Plain and fruit scones are available with rhubarb and strawberry jam and clotted cream.
Patisserie items – which are designed to incorporate what the inmates are learning in their NVQ level 2 in patisserie and confectionary – include the raspberry and ruby chocolate éclair.
HMP Brixton is a Category C prison which offers inmates the chance to train in hospitality
A prison officer is seen on duty on one of the wings at Brixton Prison in South London in 2001
The Clink restaurant at Brixton opened in 2014 and has become a major success with diners
An inmate at Brixton Prison in C wing of the Category C prison, pictured in January 2001
Others on the list are blackcurrant and coconut fruit bavarois; citrus meringue tart; and mango and passionfruit macaron.
Diners must pre-book at least seven working days before their visit, with security checks carried out on all those attending before a booking reservation can be confirmed.
All visitors must be over 18 and bring a driving licence, passport or Freedom Pass for photo identification – which will be taken from them in return for a prison pass.
Upon arrival, visitors can also lock personal items away in lockers, including mobile phones and any other banned items.
Prison policy means they cannot accept bookings from friends and relatives of inmates currently at HMP Brixton.
The restaurant’s FAQs also state that visitors are free to ask inmates ‘questions about their training and hopes for the future’, adding: ‘By dining with us, you are giving them a valuable learning experience.’
Stephen Bear outside HMP Brixton following his release on January 17 this year, after being sentenced to 21 months for voyeurism and disclosing private sexual photographs or films
Mick Jagger in a mugshot taken at Brixton Prison in 1967 after a drug bust at Keith Richards’s home in Sussex. Jagger only spent one night in the jail and was released the following day
TV chef Gordon Ramsay taught at HMP Brixton in his 2012 Channel 4 show Gordon Behind Bars
No alcohol is served because the training environments and situated on prison grounds, and a discretionary 12.5 per cent tip is added to the total bill.
The charity adds: ‘Visitors to The Clink can be assured that they are taking part in something unique, while helping someone rebuild their life at the same time.’
The restaurant is also open for lunch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; a gourmet night on Thursdays; and Sunday lunch.
The Clink trained 830 students in prisons around the UK last year, delivered around 550 NVQ qualifications and got 52 per cent of their students into employment.
Bookings at The Clink Restaurant at HMP Brixton can be made by clicking here
