HM Prison Humber

HM Prison Humber

Location	Everthorpe, East Riding of Yorkshire
Status	Operational
Security class	Adult Male/Category C
Capacity	1062 (April 2020) [1]
Opened	2014
Managed by	HM Prison Services
Governor	Marcella Goligher [1]

HM Prison Humber is a Category C men's prison, located south-west of Everthorpe, (near Brough) in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service, and was created from the 2014 merger of two neighbouring prisons: HMP Everthorpe and HM Prison Wolds.

History

HMP Everthorpe

Main article: HMP Everthorpe

Created as a borstal in 1958, Everthorpe was converted to house male convicts in 1991. After a two-day riot during the Christmas and New Year period of 1995/1996, the prison was criticised for its lack of security, bad management and the deployment of inexperienced staff during the riot. ^[2] The prison was substantially expanded in 2005, but was criticised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons in 2006 because places on resettlement and offending behaviour programmes had "failed to keep pace" with the increased number of prisoners held at the prison. ^[3]

HMP Wolds

Main article: HM Prison Wolds

In 1991, G4S won the UK's first private sector prison management contract. Initially a remand prison, HMP Wolds opened in April 1992, becoming a local Category B prison holding sentenced prisoners in 1993. In 2001, HMP Wolds was re-rolled again to a Category C training prison, ^[4] holding adult males (including prisoners serving second stage life sentences). The prison reverted to the public sector in 2013. ^[5]

Merger

In June 2013, it was announced that HM Prisons Everthorpe and Wolds would be merged into one larger prison, to be named HMP Humber. The merger took effect in April 2014 and a secure connecting corridor between the two prisons was completed in May 2015. However, the merger was said to have been "traumatic and prolonged", according to a HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, with "significant" delays in the corridor being built and changes to the staffing structure. ^[6]

Current prison

A further Inspectorate report in 2018 noted the prison's "robust" approach to drug usage, including photocopying of inmate mail in a bid to prevent drug-soaked letters being smuggled in. The report also found high levels of victimisation, intimidation and violence, much of it "underpinned by a pervasive drug culture", but said the prison was well led, staff appeared committed and there was an apparent "new-found and growing confidence about its future". ^[7]

In 2018, the Ministry of Justice recorded 490 assaults at Humber Prison, 182 more than the previous year. These included 118 attacks on staff, nine of which were considered "serious". There were also 792 self-harm incidents (up from 582 in 2017) and four deaths in custody, one adjudged to be self-inflicted. ^[8]

In December 2019, HMP Humber confirmed that one inmate had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. ^[9]

In April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Humber was identified as one of six jails which would be provided with modular buildings, adapted from shipping containers, to provide additional single prison cell accommodation to help counter the spread of coronavirus. ^[10]

References

1. "Humber Prison information". HM Prison and Probation Service. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
2. HighBeam
3. "UK | England | Humber | Prison 'needs to support inmates'". BBC News. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
4. "Welcome to HM Prison Wolds". G4S . Retrieved 13 January 2009.
5. "G4S loses Wolds prison contract". BBC News. BBC. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
6. "Humber Prison report: Wolds and Everthorpe merger 'traumatic'". BBC News. BBC. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
7. "HMP Humber: Photocopied post 'reduces prisoner drug use'". BBC News. BBC. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
8. "Violence rises at Humber Prison". Pocklington Post. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
9. Robinson, Hannah (14 December 2019). "HMP Humber denies TB 'outbreak' involving 'up to six' prisoners". Hull Live. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
10. "Quick fix for prison expansion". The Construction Index. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

External links

• Ministry of Justice page on Humber
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons reports

Coordinates: 53°46′10″N0°38′28″W / 53.7695°N 0.6411°W / 53.7695; -0.6411