Copies of ‘50 Shades’ brighten up the daily grind of prison life

Inmates are escaping the daily grind of prison life by sampling the erotic goings-on in the steamy international best-seller, Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Irish Prison Service yesterday confirmed it had bought 12 copies of the EL James novel for prisoners across the system in the past year.

The Fifty Shades series focuses on the relationship between college graduate Anastasia Steele and young business magnate Christian Grey. More than 70m copies of the raunchy read have been sold worldwide.