THE NIGHTMARE experiences of a Widnesian who was locked up in Europe’s most notorious jail have been revealed in shocking detail.
Marauding Spanish gangs, racism, corruption and ‘psychotic’ prison guards were among the dangers faced by Chris Chance when he was thrown into Carabanchel – General Franco’s original torture house.
Mr Chance, originally of Kent Street, was released two weeks ago after serving a second sentence for smuggling hashish.
He said: ‘The first time I was ever arrested I was badly beaten by Spanish police – so badly that most of my teeth are implants and I was hospitalised for kidney damage.’
Mr Chance was then thrown into Carabanchel where he was surrounded by some of the world’s worst criminals – including Italian Mafia, Basque ‘ETA’ terrorists, rapists and killers.
He said: ‘Many of the guards were psychotic and sexual deviants and the inmates were mostly murderers and rapists.
‘It was tribal and being the only Brit made me a target. They’d steal animal bones from the kitchen and carve them into weapons – dipping them in rat excrement before trying to stab you.’
Mr Chance, a former soldier and restaurateur, says he stayed alive thanks only to the martial arts skills which originally brought him into contact with the underworld.
He said: ‘My wife and I originally moved to Spain to start a martial arts school. Many of our students were doormen or bodyguards and that’s how I ended up in that world.
‘In jail I taught martial arts to the prisoners and the non-Spanish inmates started sticking together for protection. These were the likes of Italian Mafia and Russian former ‘Spetsnaz’ special forces soldiers.
‘Carabanchel was closed in 1998 due to pressure from human rights groups and I was transferred to another prison.’
He added: ‘It was a hard time but I don’t want sympathy. I want people to know how dangerous that life is and to warn them off it because I lost everything.’
Mr Chance’s experiences are published in his two books, Carabanchel and The Lone Brit on 13.
mark.smith
