Troubled DJ Andy Kershaw has spoken for the first time about his time in prison for breaching a restraining order against his ex-partner and children.

Kershaw, 48, was sent to jail on the Isle of Man in January this year and served 44 days of a three-month sentence for repeatedly hounding former partner Juliette Banner.

In an interview published in today's Independent, he said: 'I was in prison with heroin dealers and men of violence.

'It was Dickensian inside prison. It would have made Charles Dickens wince. Just about every officer and prisoner said I shouldn't be in there.'

Andy Kershaw, pictured in the Isle of Man earlier this year, has told of his tough time behind bars in a candid new interview

In the past year the fallen star has split from Banner and been sent to jail three times. He has also been arrested on countless occasions for breaching the order, put in place to stop him contacting her or their two children.

Kershaw was once one of the most popular voices on radio, said he has been on the run and sleeping rough since May, after breaking the order again.

Kershaw, who has a long history of drink-related problems, said his fellow inmates believed his innocence.

'They realised I was a regular bloke and that I was in there for an enormous injustice.'

The former Radio One star revealed that the 'crushing boredom' of his time inside became his main problem.

'I read 32 books in 47 days. Unless you go in there you will not understand how boring it is. You are locked up for 22 hours a day.'

'When I was sentenced after Christmas, I ended up doing seven-and-a-half weeks for looking at my ex-partner. That's what it amounted to.

Andy Kershaw has a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting ex-partner Juliette Banner (centre) and their children

In March, the broadcaster revealed in a prison diary of the conditions he encountered during his time in the cells.

'I was in four different cells in four weeks. The prison itself was a disgrace - everyone's idea of a Victorian jail. It was filthy. There were no toilets in the cells, not even a bucket.

'One of the cells in which I was kept had a broken window through which, in late January, a force-nine gale blasted for three days.

'Every night I slept in my clothes - thermal vest, shirt, jumper, sailing jacket, jeans and walking boots.

'That cell was overrun by vermin and fleas. I would lie on my bed throwing crumbs to the mice.'

After constantly breaching the order, Isle of Man authorities ordered Kershaw to leave the island he had been on since April 2006, so he moved to Northamptonshire to stay with sister Liz.

However, he again made contact with Banner and the children and is now effectively on the run from authorities, who have made an attempt to issue a warrant for his arrest. He faces another year in prison if he returns to the island.

Kershaw told of his frustration at not being able to have access to his children.

'Can you imagine what it was like a week last Saturday, when it was my son's 11th birthday?', he told the Independent.

'I don't even know what his tastes and interests are. All I could do was send him some money and I don't really have any money.

'And waiting and waiting for a phone call that never came. How cruel is that?'