Location | Tophill, Portland, Dorset |
---|---|
Security class | Adult Male/Category C |
Opened | 1949, 2018 |
Closed | 2014 |
Managed by | HM Prison Services |
Governor | David Bourne |
Website | The Verne at justice.gov.uk |
HM Prison The Verne is a Category C men's prison located within the historic Verne Citadel on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. Operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, HMP The Verne was established in 1949 and occupies the southern part of the citadel. After a brief spell as an Immigration Removal Centre in 2014–2017, HMP The Verne re-opened in 2018. [1]
HMP The Verne opened in 1949 within the Verne Citadel, which had been designed by Captain W. Crossman of the Royal Engineers and built between 1857-81 to defend Portland Harbour. The new prison received its first inmates on 1 February 1949 with the arrival of an advance party of 20 prisoners. Since becoming established, the interior of the prison has been substantially rebuilt by prison labour, and the modern prison, a Category C prison for adult males, has gained a considerable training programme for its prisoners who are serving either medium- or long-term sentences, including life sentences. [2]
On 4 September 2013, the Ministry of Justice announced the decision to convert the prison into an immigration removal centre for 600 detainees awaiting deportation. [3] The prison closed in November 2013, with all prisoners being transferred to other suitable prisons, and work to change the function of the prison began immediately. The prison was officially closed in January 2014 by The Closure of Prisons Order 2014. [4] The planned re-role came as part of a wider programme to modernise the prison estate, and the nearby HM Prison Dorchester closed soon after, in December 2013. [5]
With a set opening date in February 2014, it was later announced in March 2014 that the immigration removal centre plans were officially put on hold until September. However, the Prison Service announced that the empty prison would still begin to take on immigration detainees that month and would still remain known as HMP The Verne. It began holding detainees from 24 March 2014. [6] IRC The Verne reverted to a prison in 2018. [7] [1] The prison is currently used to house sex offenders. [8]
The Verne was an open-style prison with walls, but work has been undertaken in recent years to strengthen the perimeter. It has been praised as an effective jail, but various aspects of its work have come under criticism.
In November 2005, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised The Verne for weaknesses in its anti-bullying and suicide prevention policies. The report stated that safety at the prison had "deteriorated significantly" since its last inspection and that the needs of foreign national prisoners were not being met. However, the report said that the prison had made progress in improving its training provision for inmates, and work to prepare prisoners for release had also improved. [9]
During 2008, the prison was criticised to such an extent for not meeting the needs of inmates that Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers believed the best option would be to turn it into a centre exclusively for foreign prisoners. [10] However, in recent years, the prison had been praised as an effective prison which needed to develop better employment and resettlement opportunities. The inspectors found that there were low levels of violence, good staff-prisoner relationships, and that the Jailhouse Café, a public cafe offering work experience to prisoners, was a successful social enterprise. [10]
Disgraced former glam rock star Gary Glitter, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for a series of sexual offences, was incarcerated at The Verne until his release on licence in February 2023. [11] [12] Glitter was recalled back to prison for violating his license conditions in March 2023. [13] John Patrick Hannan was also sentenced to serve time at the prison, but after a 1955 escape, he has set the record for the longest time of any inmate in the world to remain a fugitive. [14]
Verne Citadel is a 19th-century citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a commanding position overlooking Portland Harbour, which it was built to defend. It later became HM Prison The Verne in 1949.
His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category A men's prison in Thamesmead, southeast London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds is the High Security Unit (HSU), which consists of 48 single cells. It is run by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison, located in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England. The prison was operated by G4S from 2011, before it was returned to HM Prison and Probation Service in August 2018. The government takeover was originally planned to be temporary pending improvement, but became permanent in April 2019.
HMP Weare was an Adult Male/Category C prison ship berthed in Portland Harbour in Dorset, England. It was the latest in a lengthy history of British prison ships, which included HMS Maidstone, used as a prison during Operation Demetrius in the 1970s, HMS Argenta, in use as a prison in the 1920s, and a long list of British prison hulks dating from the late 18th-century to the mid 19th-century.
His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Category A men's prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers held there.
HM Prison Full Sutton is a Category A and B men's prison in the village of Full Sutton, near Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Full Sutton is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and holds 596 inmates, as of September 2018. The prison's primary function is to hold, in conditions of high security, some of the most difficult and dangerous criminals in the country.
HM Prison Albany is a Category B men's prison, situated on the outskirts of Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Albany is located next to Parkhurst, another Male/B prison and together they form HM Prison Isle of Wight.
HMP Bristol is a Category B men's prison, located in the Horfield area of Bristol. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Liverpool is a category B local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Eastwood Park is a women's closed category prison, located in the village of Falfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
His Majesty's Prison Lewes is a local category B prison located in Lewes in East Sussex, England. The term local means that the prison holds people on remand to the local courts, as well as sentenced prisoners. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Morton Hall is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Morton Hall in Lincolnshire, England. The centre is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was previously a women's prison and from 2011 to 2021 it was an Immigration Removal Centre.
HM Prison Nottingham is a Category B men's prison, located in the Sherwood area of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Portland is a male Adult/Young Offenders Institution in the village of The Grove on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison was originally opened in 1848 as an adult convict establishment, before becoming a Borstal in 1921, and a YOI in 1988. In 2011 it became an Adult/Young Offenders establishment.
HM Prison Rochester is a male Young Offenders Institution, founded in 1874, and located in the Borstal area of Rochester in Kent, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is located next to HMP Cookham Wood.
HM Prison Rye Hill is a Category B men's private prison, operated by G4S. Rye Hill has exclusively housed sex offenders since 2014. The prison is next to HMP Onley and Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, south of Rugby, in the parish of Barby, Northamptonshire, England. However, the postal address of the prison is Willoughby, Warwickshire; therefore, most sources list the prison as in Willoughby, Warwickshire.
HM Prison Swaleside is a Category B men's prison, located close to the village of Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Swaleside forms part of the Sheppey prison cluster, which also includes HMP Elmley and HMP Standford Hill. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Campsfield House was an immigration detention centre located in Kidlington near Oxford, England, operated by private prison firm Group 4 under contract with the British government. It was the site of a number of protests from human rights campaigners and has seen a number of hunger strikes and one suicide. Protests at conditions in the prison have sparked a number of hunger strikes and disturbances. However, it was highly praised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons at the last full inspection. It closed in 2018.
Immigration detention in the United Kingdom is the practice of detaining foreign nationals for the purpose of immigration control. Unlike some other countries, UK provisions to detain are not outlined in a codified constitution. Instead, immigration enforcement holds individuals under Powers granted in the Immigration Act 1971 and by the Home Office Detention Centre Rules (2001). The expressed purpose of immigration detention is to "effect removal; initially to establish a person's identity or basis of claim; or [implement] where there is reason to believe that the person will fail to comply with any conditions attached to a grant of immigration bail." Detention can only lawfully be exercised under these provisions where there is a "realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable period".