Cock breaks into prison

I just read an uplifting piece about a man in Belgium who is on a crusade to show us life in the prisons of the world. He, Jan de Cock, has visited 140 prisons and slept in about 70 of them.

He was attacked by an inmate in Rwanda and beaten up by a guard in Laos. In Tokyo he was forced to sleep in a certain position. In Guatemala, the prison was controlled by a local gang, and the wardens were afraid to enter.

And so on. I would say that I myself am mildly interested in spending a few days in a Swedish prison, for research reasons, but never in a Rwandan one. That’s why I think Mr de Cock is a modern hero, and I wish him some sort of success for his efforts.

And I thought the only great Belgian was Hercule Poirot. And even he was made up by a lady in Devon. Turns out there is at least one more, and he’s real.