Swansea prison was in the spotlight last month after taking the title of Wale's most overcrowded prison.

With a population of 360 prisoners squashed into a building designed for 219, it may come as a surprise to hear that the worst aspect of prison life for one first-time inmate is time spent on one's own.

It's three years of my life down the drain

Prison inmate

For 22-year-old Carl, away from his family and pregnant girlfriend while he serves a three-and-a-half year sentence for grievous bodily harm, the most difficult time for him is when the door shuts on his cell, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

"When you're behind the door, time on your own just thinking is the worst aspect of prison," he told BBC Wales.

"I've got a radio but it's not the same when you're in that room."

Carl is "devastated" by his sentence. He will miss the birth of his child - "There's nothing I can do about it."

"It's three years of my life down the drain," he said.

Prison not a deterrent

Experience of prison is not a problem for 25-year-old Chris. He is on his sixth sentence for car theft, and is not certain it will be his last.

Does he think prison is a sufficient deterrent for those who commit crime? "It should be, but it doesn't in the end," he said.

"It is down to you if you want to come back."

Chris puts his repetitive cycle of offending down to the fact he has no job and no other means of making money.

"You do it to earn money and sometimes you get caught.

"If I had a job and was working every week, had money coming in, I wouldn't pinch cars.

"But when you're in the house all the time, bored, and you haven't got any money, you just want to go out and earn some."

Spending time alone can be difficult for some

He does not think there is anything in prison which is going to help him when he is released back into society - which may well mean Swansea prison could become his home for another stretch of time.

For Monty, 51, prison could be a deterrent, but only if a person has never served time in one.

He had stayed away from crime for 15 years after one period in jail, but a drug addiction led him into dealing, for which he is now serving five years.

"Once you have been in prison, you know what to expect," he explained.

"You know you're not going to get beaten up every day, and that nothing too nasty is going to happen to you."

Again, being away from family and friends is the difficult thing to deal with aside from the physical loss of freedom, but Monty is trying to ensure he does not return behind bars when he has finished this sentence.

He is taking an "enhanced thinking" course at the prison, and is setting his sights on the future.

He appeared confident of ability to change his past behaviour.

"I won't be coming back," he said. "My aim now is to try and be decategorised which would enable me to go to an open prison."