Jeffrey Archer will not be punished for publishing his diary as long as he stays within prison rules until next April, it emerged tonight.
The disgraced peer today admitted breaching strict prison guidelines by identifying other inmates and their crimes in his book, A Prison Diary.
He accepted the breach at a disciplinary hearing with the governor of Lincoln prison today, hours after the book hit the high street.
His punishment - suspended for six months - is two weeks without prison allowance and a fortnight without being able to buy extras from the canteen but if he avoids a further breach of prison rules, which would include more published diaries, the measures will not be enacted.
Breaches of prison rules can see extra days added to a sentence depending on the seriousness of the offence.
The book, which hit the bookshops today, is the first of three planned volumes on Archer's time behind bars. He was jailed last year for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice during a 1987 libel case.
But the first volume, based on his experiences at London's top security Belmarsh prison, identifies a number of prisoners by their full names and refers to their crimes, including Jill Dando's killer Barry George. It also names Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs.
The director general of the prison service, Martin Narey, consulted lawyers earlier this week and the text was closely examined prior to today's decision.
A Prison Diary, which is accredited to Archer's prison number - FF 8282 - rather than his name, looks at the peer's spell in one of Britain's toughest prisons and life among some of the most serious criminals.
He describes it as "hell" and one entry says: "What is almost impossible to describe in its full horror is the time you spend 'banged up'."
The book talks of drugs and smuggling being rife in the prison system and questions the appropriateness of mixing those with less serious offences with murderers and drug dealers.
A spokeswoman for Macmillan said the book was a "devastating indictment of the British penal system".
The second volume will be based on Archer's time at Wayland prison in Norfolk, where he moved after Belmarsh and which he describes as "purgatory".
The third will look at his spell in North sea camp open prison in Lincolnshire, which he calls "heaven".
Archer is also facing an investigation after breaching day release conditions by attending a party thrown by former Tory education secretary Gillian Shephard.
He was moved to Lincoln jail from North sea camp open prison after the rule-breaking came to light.
