Phil Spector starts his 18-year jail sentence

On his arrival at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles on Monday, Phil Spector was immediately subjected to a strip search before being issued with his prison clothes and being shown to a special section of the jail where the most high-profile prisoners are locked up. Previous occupants of the prison have included Paris Hilton in 2007 and Robert Downey Junior in 1998.

A mere 15-minute drive from his Alhambra suburb 30-bedroom mansion where he shot Clarkson in the mouth after a party, Phil Spector’s new home is the world’s biggest prison, housing 4,000 inmates in its 1.5m square feet. On Wednesday, the eccentric millionaire music producer woke up to face the second day of what is likely to be an 18-year sentence for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

The prison is closed for visits from Wednesdays to Fridays, so Spector’s girlfriend, the 28-year-old Playboy model Rachelle Short, will have to wait until Saturday before reacquainting herself with her beau. She can, however, pick up the wig and suit he wore to court from the Inmate Reception Center Monday to Friday: from now on, Spector will wear only high-visibility jumpsuits.

Spector, prison booking number 1873015, will remain at Twin Towers until May 29 when he will learn exactly how long his sentence will be and which of California’s prisons he is likely to be transferred to.

Former inmates of the prison, a den of violent rapists, mentally ill prisoners and hardened gangsters, have suggested that the diminutive Spector will need to keep his wits about him if he is to stay unharmed. “Better be strong,” a released inmate named ‘Steve’ told ABC News. “Better know how to fight… [being small] is a disadvantage if they got to fight, there’s a riot, they’re gonna get messed up.”