 | |
| Location | Parkhurst, Isle of Wight |
|---|---|
| Security class | Adult Male/Category B |
| Population | 497(as of August 2008) |
| Opened | 1805 |
| Managed by | HM Prison Services |
| Governor | Doug Graham |
| Website | www |
HM Prison Parkhurst is a Category B men's prison located in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. [1] Parkhurst prison is one of two former separate prisons that today make up HMP Isle of Wight, the other being Albany.
Parkhurst as an institution began in 1778, originally serving as a military hospital and children's asylum. By 1838, it had transformed into a prison for children. [2] 123 Parkhurst apprentices were sent to the Colony of New Zealand in 1842 and 1843, [3] and nearly 1500 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 were sent to various colonies in Australia and New Zealand. The Swan River Colony (Western Australia) received 234 apprentices between 1842 and 1849, then chose to accept adult convicts as well. [4] Victoria and Tasmania also received "Parkhurst Boys", who were always referred to officially as "apprentices", not convicts. During this period, Parkhurst Prison Governor Captain George Hall (in office from 1843 to 1861) employed the boys to make bricks for the construction of the C and M block wings of the prison building. [3]
Parkhurst was considered one of the toughest prisons in the British Isles.[ citation needed ] From its early days as a prison for young offenders, Parkhurst faced severe criticism from the public, politicians and the press due to its harsh régime (including the use of leg irons initially). [5] The prison became a focal point for reformers, most notably Mary Carpenter (1807–1877), who campaigned against the use of imprisonment for children. [6]
In 1966, Parkhurst became one of the few top-security prisons in the United Kingdom, known as "Dispersals", because they separated more troublesome prisoners rather than housing them all together in one place.However, it lost its "Dispersal" status in 1995. [1] In 2009, Parkhurst merged with HM Prison Albany to form super-prison HM Prison Isle of Wight, with both site retaining their original name. [7]
On 3 January 1995, three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) escaped from Parkhurst prison and enjoyed four days of freedom before being recaptured. One of the escapees, Keith Rose, was an amateur pilot. During those four days, the escapees lived rough in a shed in a garden in Ryde, after failing to steal a plane from the local flying club. [1]
A documentary entitled Britain's Island Fortress was produced about this daring prison escape, and it was featured in the National Geographic Channel's Breakout documentary series. [8]
High-profile criminals including Lord William Beauchamp Nevill, [9] the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, [10] Moors Murderer Ian Brady, drug smuggler Terrance John Clark and the Kray twins, [11] were incarcerated there.
Michael Gaughan died at Parkhurst prison after a 64-day hunger strike. In December 1971, Gaughan had been sentenced at the Old Bailey to seven years imprisonment for his involvement in an IRA bank robbery in Hornsey, north London, which yielded £530 (equivalent to £9,500in 2023). He was also convicted for the possession of two revolvers. On 31 March 1974, Gaughan went on hunger strike demanding political status. At this time, British policy was to force-feed hunger strikers. [12] Over the course of his protest, Gaughan was force-fed 17 times. The last time he was force-fed was the night before his death on Sunday, 2 June. He died on Monday 3 June 1974, at the age of 24. [13] Graham Young, also known as the "Teacup Poisoner", died at Parkhurst of a heart attack in 1990. [14]
War criminal Radovan Karadžić has been serving a life sentence at Parkhurst since May 2021, where he will serve the rest of his sentence. [15]
Feltham Young Offenders Institution is a prison for male juveniles and Young Offenders Institution, occupying 0.184 square kilometres south-west of Feltham in the London Borough of Hounslow, in west London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns about cities, poverty, immigration, and gender following industrialization, as well as from a shift in penology to reforming instead of punishing the criminal. They were traditionally single-sex institutions that relied on education, vocational training, and removal from the city. Although their use declined throughout the 20th century, their impact can be seen in practices like the United States' continued implementation of parole and the indeterminate sentence.
Mary Carpenter was an English educational and social reformer. The daughter of a Unitarian minister, she founded a ragged school and reformatories, bringing previously unavailable educational opportunities to poor children and young offenders in Bristol.
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's local prison, located in the White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
The Parkhurst apprentices, juveniles from a reformatory attached to Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, were sentenced to "transportation beyond the seas" and transported to Australia and New Zealand between 1842 and 1852. Either before leaving England or on arrival at their destination, they were pardoned on the conditions that they be "apprenticed" to local employers, and that they not return to England during the term of their sentence. In the ten years between 1842 and 1852 nearly 1500 boys aged from twelve to eighteen were transported to Australia and New Zealand from Parkhurst Prison.
Parkhurst is a neighbourhood northwest of the town of Newport, Isle of Wight. It has few amenities, but a large residential population.
John McVicar was a British journalist and convicted one-time armed robber who escaped from prison.
HM Prison Frankland is a Category A men's prison located in the village of Brasside in County Durham, England. Frankland is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is located next to HM Prison Low Newton, a closed women's prison.
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.
The Royal Saint Helena Police Service, formerly the Saint Helena Police Service, is the local police force for the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, consisting of the South Atlantic islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and the island group of Tristan da Cunha.
In the United Kingdom, prisoners are divided into four categories of security. Each adult is assigned to a category according to their crime, sentence, the risk of escape, and violent tendencies. The categories are designated with the letters A to D, with A being the highest level of security, and D the lowest.
Michael Gaughan was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, England. Gaughan was one of 22 Irish republicans to die while on hunger strike in the 20th century.
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 Isle of Wight – Camp Hill Barracks is a former Category C men's prison, located on the outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight. The former prison lies adjacent to Albany and Parkhurst, both part of HMP Isle of Wight.
HM Prison Brixton is a Category C training establishment men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Before 2012, it was used as a local prison.
HM Prison Styal is a Closed Category prison for female adults and young offenders in Styal, Cheshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Radovan Karadžić is a Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was the president of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War.
HM Prison Whatton is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Whatton, near Bingham in Nottinghamshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and houses males convicted of sexual offences.
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.
George Hall Esq. was a British administrator in the 19th century.
Reformatory Schools for the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile Offenders.