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00:00Have you your brains?
00:03So what did you kill the fish for then?
00:07Same thing again for both legs.
00:08Good morning, sir.
00:23Don't force, have you out.
00:28Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution in County Durham
00:31is home to over 400 juvenile and young offenders aged between 15 and 21.
00:38Gavin Stowell is serving four years for armed robbery
00:41and his release date is fast approaching.
00:44What is a typical day like for Gavin and his fellow inmates?
00:48Is it an easy life?
00:50Or is his prison sentence a just punishment for his crime?
00:55You get woke up at 7 o'clock by the first 9 o'clock evening
00:58and you get woke up a quarter past seven to make sure you're up.
01:00And you get opened up at half past seven.
01:03And then if you're caught in bed, you've got your point screw.
01:07You get points lost.
01:11On Fing, you have a points system where for each good thing you do
01:16or whatever you do, you gain points.
01:19And your points you can buy, like, extra visits or home visits
01:23or even town visits.
01:26That's for good work and education.
01:28This is the night patrol.
01:30You get 20 a night as long as you're good with the night clocky.
01:34That's an assessment.
01:36Once a month you get a wing assessment and you get points.
01:40Yeah.
01:43And there's now about 13,000, so I'm gonna be caught in bed a few times
01:47and then I'm getting took off.
01:48Were you out last night?
01:50No!
01:54OK.
02:01All right mate, it's Aral, Mad Evertonian, loves his blues, that's it, we just waited
02:11around for breakfast now, all this thing round the landing.
02:15The three of them, the three of them were going to Grafton, they said to me, you come
02:18to Grafton when you get out, I said, nah, they said, we are, watch this, watch this,
02:22I saw the girls, I said, nah, I ain't going to Grafton, watch it last night, and these
02:26girls that are 50 and 60, well they're not girls, they're OAPs, and they're still saying
02:31they're going to Grafton when they get out.
02:33Yeah, I'm desperate for it.
02:36Threes!
02:38That's us, we're going down for our scrans now.
02:44Good morning.
02:46Good morning.
02:47Good morning.
02:50Good morning.
02:51Good morning, you've got to sign in, you've got to say, like, you're coming down for your
02:54breakfast.
02:55Mr. Waffle uses here to check you've had a shave, otherwise it's back up until you've
02:58had your brekkie.
03:00But I have, I've had a shave.
03:03Yeah, I've spotted that.
03:14We just named it the Scouse table.
03:17We're by a window, so we can't have the windows open.
03:20We've got the sunshine and through.
03:21Only Scouse is alive on this table.
03:27See, no, no, no sit in someone else's chair, because they'll just get told to move, get evicted.
03:33There's Big Joe. There's the other fella over there, Joey.
03:38After we've been ripped off, what it is, you either get frosties or cornflakes, but some people start to save
03:42the cornflakes,
03:43and then what they've done is, they've swapped them for frosties and mixed the cornflakes in with the frosties.
03:48They think we won't know, but I think it's quite easy to distinguish a frosty from a cornflake.
03:54They're the small things that, like, do your head in in prison.
03:59I think, you know, we sometimes have to remember that all of these kids in here, average age 19, 18,
04:0519, 20 years old,
04:07a high percentage of these lads never get up in the morning to go to work.
04:11A lot of the kids in here have never worked.
04:13So I think to have something structured, particularly first thing in the morning,
04:17where it is important that kids get out of bed,
04:19it is important that we check the cells to make sure they're left nice and clean and tidy.
04:23I personally, for a young fella, I think that's quite important, actually.
04:27It's a big crease now that's been in my bike, but...explode.
04:32I'm tenting right now, canteen, and then we'll come back to wing,
04:36and then it's welfare to work, which is my employment at the time.
04:41They're getting sheltered there.
04:48Yeah.
04:52All right, mate.
04:53There you go.
04:54There we are, Mr Smith.
04:58Sticky out to welfare or work, eh?
05:00I'm coming back with my stuff first.
05:02What, canteen?
05:03Yeah.
05:03No, they'll take you from their daughter.
05:06Our thoughts.
05:07No, they'll take you, they'll get you down the canteen.
05:09All right.
05:11I went to a comprehensive school, which lasted two years, and then I was expelled.
05:16I had a home tutor for two or three months.
05:20It didn't last because I wasn't prepared to give it a chance.
05:23Right, sir.
05:24I went on trial basis to another school.
05:27It lasted three weeks, and then the school just got knocked on the head.
05:32So, from then, I didn't get any education.
05:35I think the first time I was arrested was shoplifting in Southport,
05:39which was something I didn't need and something I didn't want,
05:41but I think it was just the fact of taking it.
05:44Around about now, all the inmates are making the way from all the wings
05:51and making the way to the places of work.
05:54Some are going into the education centre, some to the gymnasium,
05:58and some making the way to the workshops, which are down to our right here.
06:03We don't normally have any problems.
06:05Lads normally quite quietly make the way from the wings to the work,
06:10but we have staff placed in strategic positions around the establishment
06:14just to make sure that everybody sticks to the route that they have to take
06:21when making the way from their wings to the workshops.
06:26With only six weeks left to serve,
06:29Gavin attends Welfare to Work classes to help prepare him for release.
06:33Dear Bolt's education department offers everything from computing skills
06:38to parenting classes for young fathers,
06:41and Gavin, who has progressed to the top or enhanced regime,
06:46has chosen to make full use of the available facilities.
06:50But many young offenders didn't go to school on the outside
06:53and are not interested in attending classes while inside.
06:58Each time you appear and you do good work or you do bad work,
07:04you do bad, you get points to the doctor.
07:05If you do good, you gain points.
07:07And I think it's 35 points per session.
07:11So it just adds on to me many thousands of them.
07:17After Welfare to Work, another regular part of any prison's daily routine.
07:34You usually get searched every time you come out of education,
07:36every time you come out of the gym,
07:39every time you come back off a visit,
07:42every time you go on a visit.
07:45Usually you're supposed to every time you leave a wing
07:48or you come out of a building.
07:53Next is a highlight of the routine,
07:55the weekly visits to the prison shop,
07:58otherwise known as the canteen.
08:01As an enhanced prisoner,
08:03Gavin can spend more than some of his colleagues
08:05who are on the basic or standard regimes.
08:09In our canteen, that's what we get to buy,
08:11our weekly shopping,
08:13and the lucky one who gets to spend £15 a week.
08:15Some people might only have to buy it,
08:17so it's a bit more fair on them.
08:19£15.
08:19Right, £1.08 that's them.
08:27£38.
08:30£3.
08:33There you are, Pat.
08:38There you are.
08:40There you are.
08:42There you are.
08:44There you are.
08:45Do you want a box?
08:47No, no.
08:48OK.
08:52Staff are just coming out now to man the yards
08:55for cease labour at lunch time.
08:57Completely reversed to first thing this morning.
09:02The young inmates will be making their way back from the workshops
09:04back to the wings,
09:06and they'll be checked into the wings.
09:08They'll go up onto the landings, into the cells,
09:11get themselves ready for lunch,
09:13and then they'll be called down,
09:15normally a landing at a time,
09:18to get the lunch.
09:20What's the one part of the routine that you don't like, is it?
09:23What about kit change?
09:24That used to get me down, kit change.
09:26I hate kit change.
09:27Sunday morning.
09:27Sunday morning's an inspection.
09:29You've got to lay all your kit out.
09:31You've got to take all your pad down the way we have,
09:33like, you might see posters hanging over me board
09:36or photographs up of me girl.
09:39You've got to take them down.
09:41Yeah.
09:41You've got to polish your floor.
09:43They come round checking for dust or not?
09:44Yeah, they do.
09:45I clean me bad on a Saturday night,
09:47give her a mop out, brush out,
09:48and just put everything down ready for the Sunday
09:50so I don't have to do a Sunday morning,
09:52then just play chess on the wing or whatever.
09:54Who does the inspection?
09:55Usually an SO and an officer.
09:58Yeah.
09:59Different officers are, like, a waste than others.
10:01You know, they'll find, just scrape everywhere
10:03until they find one piece of dust
10:05and then knock a thing.
10:07Do they always find something, even if it's little?
10:09Yeah.
10:09Yeah.
10:11The mail's been given out.
10:12I'll just check.
10:14That's either your buzz or your let down, innit?
10:17You got any mail?
10:21The mail been given out?
10:23Has it?
10:27How old are you now?
10:2821. I was 21.
10:30Just over a month ago.
10:32So, my last two birthdays,
10:34and, I don't know, three birthdays
10:35I've been in on two Christmases.
10:36Mm-hm.
10:37So, I'm glad I'm out for Millennium.
10:38It's the big one, innit?
10:40German radio down the way!
10:43Yeah, these ones, the separated girls and me,
10:47like, other people,
10:48like, that's from another prison
10:49that's off one of my mates who's in another jail.
10:51We were met in another jail.
10:53And I get the small ones I get off my mum every week
10:56with a postal order.
10:57She doesn't write a letter.
10:58I just phone her.
11:00Yeah.
11:02Other people I write too.
11:04They just call me girl ones.
11:06Like, it's two years of life.
11:08It's two years of conversation.
11:11It's a shame it's got to be down on paper, though.
11:15Mail is one of the best things throughout prison
11:17because it's something that can happen every day,
11:19Monday to Saturday.
11:23So, you look forward to getting your letters off your girl.
11:25You look forward to getting your kisses at the end of the letter
11:27and the perfume smelling on the page.
11:30She's been out for two and a half years,
11:32well, I've been in for two and a half years,
11:33so the way I might want to be out and enjoy myself
11:36and live a little and go around and do whatever,
11:40she might want to just settle down and be more relaxed
11:44and stay in and spend quality time with each other.
11:47So, it's going to be a no-win situation
11:52that am I doing what I want to do
11:55or doing what she wants to do because she's waited for me.
11:59That's something I'll always, like, stand over my head thinking,
12:02do I owe her this relationship even if it's not working?
12:05Well, I have to stay with it because she waited for me
12:08for two and a half years.
12:09See, but then that's down to personal preference,
12:12whether love is worth more than life.
12:16Because that's my... I hate decisions.
12:21Now I do.
12:22I hate having to choose between two things.
12:24It's horrible. I'd rather not have a choice.
12:27Not that I'd rather someone choose it for me,
12:29but I'd always liked it just to be one option.
12:32But now it's, like, whether...
12:35I feel fairly confident in whatever I aim for I'll achieve.
12:39So now I've got to decide whether it's to make a girl happy.
12:44And I'll probably be happy because I'll make sure I'm happy,
12:48but I'll always have that thought about
12:50whether I should have went the other way
12:52and when to become what I wanted and an ambition and that.
12:56But then I'll think, well, if I go that way,
12:58I'll always think about what would have happened if I went that way.
13:01So either way, it's like it's a two-edged sword, isn't it?
13:05So I've got to decide.
13:07So I think I haven't made my decision.
13:10I know I'm going to get out and go and see my girl
13:12and spend time with her, but...
13:18I haven't, like, made up my mind properly about which one it will be.
13:23I just hope I...
13:25I choose the right decision.
13:30It's 5 to 12 now, we're just waiting for our dinner.
13:33We'll get shouted.
13:34I think it's the twos, then the threes, then the fours.
13:38All right, man.
13:46I'm a hairdresser, mate.
13:47It's Archie.
13:48Archie done the air.
13:51I'm the hairdresser.
13:54Archie!
13:58He's the hairdresser, he's the hairless one.
14:01Do you know what he said to me last night?
14:02He said, er...
14:03He said, don't say me name, he said,
14:05because me family will share me in jail.
14:07I said, they're going to see your face, though.
14:09He said, yeah, but I'll just say,
14:10it doesn't look like...
14:11It just looks like me.
14:12What's that, Ed?
14:13Who said this?
14:14Eddie?
14:15Yes.
14:16Shut up, guys.
14:19This is the worst sex problem.
14:23You're an angel, girl.
14:24What's that, Ed?
14:25It's an angel.
14:30That's three young adults.
14:33Bad these, you know.
14:33There's no...
14:37That's an egg sarny.
14:38What?
14:40Supposedly.
14:41More like a salad.
14:43It looks better than what it is.
14:46But, I mean, you wouldn't rob off someone who hasn't got it.
14:49Who need it more than you.
14:52Nah.
14:53Depends, though.
14:54When you see the money in that there, you don't start thinking like that.
14:59It's just a quick reaction, man.
15:03You're a man-fated.
15:04I wouldn't rob off someone who needed it more than I did.
15:09I don't reckon personally that I'll come back to jail.
15:13Because, like, since my girl is my baby, I've realised that I've got responsibilities and
15:16that.
15:17Like, I just want to get out there and live my life and look after my baby and that.
15:22I used to be bad at home and, like, dead dead wild at night.
15:26But I've calmed down now.
15:27I'm the black sheep of the family, me, though.
15:29Because all the rest in our house have never, ever been in trouble with the police.
15:32It's only me, man.
15:34I think I'm sensible, but I've got a rebellious streak.
15:48It's about 20 past 25 past 12 now.
15:53Everyone gets banged up.
15:55Yeah, in a bit, lad.
15:58It's 20 past.
15:59Everyone usually gets banged up and you get your two hours before work, which commences
16:05at quarter to two.
16:08And that's when I got back to office.
16:10Yeah, welfare to work.
16:12I have my brew, watch family affairs and home and away and all my soaps now.
16:19And a bit of Jerry Springer before they come for me.
16:37So, I can tell you later, because you're thinking I'm going to school.
16:44I'm going to sleep.
16:46I'm going to sleep.
16:47Go!
16:48Go!
16:49Joel!
16:50Listen!
16:51My name is all he is.
16:51Go!
17:00Occasionally a period of quiet can be followed by some form of trouble or other, but you
17:06get used to it.
17:07It's just one of them things, it's the way that life is in prison.
17:12Sometimes it can be quite boisterous, other times it can be very quiet and peaceful like
17:16it is right now.
17:29What was the robbery, you robbed it off-licence, armed with a...
17:33Replica.
17:34Ah, that's it, a replica.
17:36And how did you actually get nicked?
17:40Outside the shop.
17:42Oh, you snicked at the scene?
17:43Yeah.
17:43Yeah.
17:46I was on my face when I did it.
17:48I took a cocktail of prescribed tablets, prescribed to me sleeping tablets and antidepressants.
17:55That's not an excuse, it's just probably why I got caught.
17:59Yeah.
18:02So you went and robbed the soft-licence?
18:04Yeah.
18:05You're lucky you weren't shot.
18:07I did.
18:09They didn't know it was a replica, did they?
18:10No.
18:12What about the old drugs?
18:14Well, I've been the distance apart from heroin, which is one that's not acceptable between
18:20our age group and the pill.
18:22But from an early age I was addicted to solvents, something that I hid very well and something
18:27that followed me through until I was like 18, which was at a bad stage when I was taken
18:31up to ten tins a day.
18:33So what was that?
18:34Glue and all that?
18:35No, just gas and gas for your lighters.
18:40Yeah.
18:41I couldn't get out of it no matter how I tried.
18:43So I think gas was cheap and it was acceptable to me because it was easy to get hold of
18:50and
18:50it was cheap and it done me, I didn't have to.
18:53It could kill me, which I knew like any other drug could, but I think that way it was easier
19:00because it would wear off within an hour if you took a full tins.
19:03So then if I had to do something, if my girl was coming home, because she didn't know,
19:07even though I'd been with her for three years, she didn't know I was taking gas.
19:10Now when I think about it, now it knocks me sick because I've got out of it.
19:16Like even, like, prison isn't hard to get drugs.
19:20And even now I've knocked it back.
19:23Not that the gas has been in prison, but I mean other drugs, like just your normal weed
19:26and so now I think I've seen both sides of it and I like the side I'm on now.
19:31I enjoy my gym, fitness, I think that's the only thing I do is smoke, drink caffeine.
19:39Around two thirds of all young prisoners have used drugs.
19:43I mean some of these kids here have to steal to sort of keep a drug culture going as far
19:49as they're concerned.
19:50I mean I was talking to one kid the other day and he was talking about something like 200 pounds
19:54a day
19:54to keep himself in heroin.
19:57And the only way that he could sort of achieve that sort of money was to burgle for it really.
20:04I'm not condoning that in any way, but I think that is a major problem, especially in inner cities as
20:11well.
20:12Although things probably improved a little, certainly in the north of England over the last few years,
20:17I still think there is a culture in the inner cities where probably employment is a problem.
20:23Kids can't get employment that easily.
20:27And I have a lot of time on my hands and I think at the end of the day that's
20:31probably the reason,
20:32with all these other things, that kids tend to re-offend.
20:36I'm going for my monthly review.
20:38My monthly reviews before this haven't been as good.
20:41I don't think I want anything to worry about,
20:42apart from maybe a few points for not complying to the rules,
20:48which was playing snooker when I'm not supposed to
20:50and using the laundry when I'm not supposed to.
20:53But apart from that, I think it should be a good one this time.
20:56I've got 60 on my last one, so hopefully I'll get over 55 this time.
21:03The PO and the SO, they both do the reviews.
21:08This will be my last one until I get released, which is in six weeks.
21:13So hopefully it'll be a good one.
21:24Right, come on in, Gavin. Come and have a seat.
21:26Just sit there, son.
21:28Right, I think you know what it's all about.
21:31It's that time of the month again when your review comes around.
21:34This time, we've just been talking about it.
21:37Obviously this time's going to be the last one.
21:40I don't know how many reviews you've had whilst you've been here,
21:43but obviously a good few.
21:4517.
21:4617?
21:47Good grief, right.
21:49Willingness to obey institution wing rules was average.
21:53This was due to sneaking on the snooker and shoving your laundry in when you shouldn't have known.
21:59And your night patrol says you're very good on nights.
22:01He says everybody is.
22:02There's no major problems.
22:04Your work was Mrs Chapman Vardy, one of his skills.
22:09She's given you full marks for everything.
22:11And she says she hopes you'll continue with your good work when you get out.
22:17So out of 60, you have a total of 58 points.
22:22Yeah, which is pretty good.
22:24You couldn't have done much better than that.
22:26Do you know the one thing I found best about you?
22:29You don't kowtow to peer pressure.
22:31No.
22:32You go your own way.
22:33I'm not a sheep.
22:34You get involved.
22:35And I mean, that's exactly what I wanted to get onto as well, because obviously the time's
22:40running out at Daybolt now.
22:41I mean, we're not going to have you around for very much longer.
22:45You know, you've got a few weeks left to do, and I mean, you know the score on gate fever
22:50and getting excited about your hands.
22:52That's what people have said, but I'm not.
22:54I'm just...
22:55It's been a bit early yet.
22:56That's what I think.
22:56I think maybe in the last two days is something I might fear.
23:00I mean, there's 400 other inmates here, and you know yourself.
23:03You don't have to go looking for trouble sometimes.
23:05It can come and find you.
23:07Right.
23:07So be careful, Gavin, because I mean, this period of time now between now and this parole
23:12and your license and going home is an extremely crucial time, and you can't afford to let
23:18anything really interfere with that in the next few weeks.
23:22I'm sure you're aware of that, you know, but I think it's worth thinking about.
23:27Good review this month.
23:28Very pleased.
23:30I mean, as far as I'm concerned, I think you've done everything that you could have done at
23:34Daybolt.
23:34Mm-hm.
23:35I think, you know, as far as we're concerned, you know, get out, get it done, and don't come
23:48back.
23:54Do a rollie, man.
23:55Oh, smoke.
23:57Do a rollie.
23:58It's young and small.
23:58Me washing.
23:59Just like me washing done there.
24:01Bad gel.
24:02Put your mail in there.
24:03I'm the laundry hardly.
24:13That's not mine, Joe, lad.
24:15Give me someone else's socks.
24:17Are they all there?
24:19He's been the laundry hardly for about six months, and every time he's washing me washing,
24:24he's never, ever brought all my stuff back at once.
24:26There's always one sock that's missing, and it's just...
24:29There's one missing?
24:29Yeah.
24:31It's just Joey for you.
24:32He's never, ever done it with more of my socks.
24:34Never once.
24:35That's a new tradition, isn't it?
24:36I always give them back.
24:37I know.
24:37I'll get them two days later or something, but I never, ever get them back in one day.
24:43Yeah, I miss all the lads, because they're like brothers.
24:45You grow up with them.
24:46I've been two years with Joey and my other mate, Alex.
24:49I've been here nearly two years with them.
24:51I've lived with them.
24:52I used to be doubled up with Alex in the same pad, both of us.
24:55If someone hasn't got a phone card or a band, they'll just bang up and get sent down.
25:01So that's it.
25:01You've got to look at yourself.
25:02So that's it.
25:03You adopt them as your brothers.
25:05You've got to have family in prison.
25:08We're not like pansies or puffs.
25:10We're not going around hugging each other or nothing like that.
25:12Sometimes I'm feeling down in there.
25:15Like, I'm going to talk to them in there.
25:17Like, have a little talk to them in there.
25:19We'll get an arc on.
25:21We'll have arguments.
25:22Or just get an arc on and start talking.
25:25He's the whinger, I think.
25:26I know.
25:27And he says that in the whole moment.
25:30I don't know.
25:32It's like, we know it's not meant.
25:34It's like, that's it, because you've been in the same boat.
25:38We're all on the same sort of boat out there.
25:40There isn't a group of lads in the jail, who's like us four.
25:44We sit together, we eat together.
25:46We're just constantly talking.
25:48We're in our...
25:49I get sold out.
25:51He has a whinge and eat all the toast.
25:53He gets all the pies.
25:55Oh, right there.
25:56Oh!
25:56It goes all out.
25:58Yeah, yeah.
26:00Turn that off.
26:02The unfortunate thing is that at some stage,
26:06they've got to leave this establishment.
26:08When the time's up, they've got to go home.
26:10And unfortunately, you know, sometimes they have to go home into, you know, the area where they were brought up.
26:16The influences of friends or associates in that area.
26:21And I mean, a lot of these kids have drug problems, drink problems, gambling problems, all that sort of stuff.
26:29And, you know, no matter what you do in prison with these kids, and no matter how much hard work
26:34you do with them,
26:35it's always at the back of your mind that, you know, eventually when they leave Dearborn,
26:38they're going to go back into the same situation that they were in before they came here.
26:43Yeah.
26:43Which is sad, really.
26:54It's about ten past six, and the association, highlight of the day.
27:13Three.
27:14Two.
27:17One.
27:19Two.
27:20One.
27:21One.
27:22I've learned a lot from being in jail.
27:25Like, how to hold things down, like a job.
27:30It's a lot.
27:30I've been along with jobs for about 16 months.
27:33And I think a lot more patience now.
27:36You can have patience in prison.
27:38I think a little bit, that's lacking rehabilitation.
27:40It's like, in prison, you haven't gone in prison, because it's like being a child again.
27:44Everything's done for you.
27:46You rent, you don't have to pay rent.
27:47You don't have to sort your tax out.
27:49You don't have to go and pay your debts or pay your bills.
27:53You don't have to go shopping.
27:55Everything's done.
27:55It's like, it's like being a child again.
27:59So then, so then, although prison, like, rehabilitate you, if you want to be rehabilitated,
28:05it doesn't give you the needs for when you do get out of prison.
28:09Yeah.
28:10And if you haven't already tried it, how are you going to survive?
28:17Don't get your pot noodles!
28:19Time's quarter to eight, and it's, you get your brew now, your hot water.
28:23If you bang up at five to eight.
28:26And then, what, you're banged up until...
28:28You're banged up until quarter to eight in the morning, when you'll empty your bills
28:31and have your breakfast, then just do the whole thing again.
28:34Come on, get your left hand.
28:36Come on, come on.
28:37Come on, come on.
28:37Let me go, lad.
28:39Well, there's enough, there's enough to keep us occupied.
28:41You've got, you've got your boots, CD player, your TV.
28:46And I'm lucky at the moment there's an organ in there, so I get to distract the rest of
28:51the inmates and keep myself happy at the same time.
28:55Now, come on in, boys!
28:58Let's do it!
28:59Come on!
29:13I hope I'll never come back to prison, I'll try my best to stay out of it.
29:18I think one of the things I've learnt inside is nothing's what it seems, and patience is a virtue.
29:27I'll try my best to keep out of trouble and keep on the right side of the law.
29:37Gavin was released on the 12th of July and has gone home to his family and girlfriend.
29:43Just before release, he was awarded a grant by the Prince's Trust to set up a market stall.
30:08I don't know why I can't be a good Lord.
30:09Shine bright like a diamond.
30:12Shine bright like a diamond.
30:17Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy
30:20You and I, you and I, we're like diamonds in the sky
30:25You're a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy
30:28When you hold me, I'm alive, we're like diamonds in the sky
30:33I knew that we'd become one right away, oh right away
30:41At first sight I felt the energy of sunrise
30:46I saw the light