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| Location | Peterhead, Scotland, UK |
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| Coordinates | 57°29′24″N1°47′14″W / 57.49000°N 1.78722°W |
| Status | Historical museum |
| Capacity | 152 (February 2012) |
| Opened | 1888 |
| Closed | 2013 |
| Managed by | Scottish Prison Service |
| Governor | Michael Hebden |
HMP Peterhead was a prison in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, operating from 1888 to 2013. Since June 2016, the former grounds operate as the Peterhead Prison Museum.
Peterhead Convict Prison was built around 1888. It was designed to hold 208 prisoners and to be Scotland's only convict prison, [1] i.e. for prisoners sentenced to 'hard labour'. Occupancy averaged at around 350 however, until peaking at 455 in 1911. [1] Additional buildings were completed in 1909, 1960 and 1962, bringing capacity up to 362. [1] According to the Scottish Prison Service, the prison could, in 2012, accommodate up to 142 prisoners. [2]
It closed in 2013, to be replaced by the new HMP Grampian, the first prison in Scotland to jointly house youths, men and women. [3] The first inmates transferred on to site on 2 March 2014 having been temporarily housed at other sites and connected to family with virtual visits by videolink. [3]
Until the opening of Peterhead Convict Prison, Scots convicts were transported to England to serve their sentences. The first convicts were received in August 1888.
Peterhead supplied the labour force to work in Stirlinghill Quarry and in the Admiralty Yard attached to the prison. These convicts supported the work of a civilian labour force employed by the Admiralty to construct the Harbour of Refuge breakwater.
The Admiralty project was unique in Scotland as it was served by the only state-owned passenger-carrying railway in its day.
On 28 September 1987, a riot in the prison's D wing resulted in prisoners taking over the building and taking a prison officer, 56-year-old Jackie Stuart, hostage. The rioters were serving life in prison for violent crimes. It was thought that they had nothing to lose and would not hesitate to make good on their threats to kill their hostage, whom they had taken up to the rafters. When negotiations broke down, the then-Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, dispatched the SAS to bring the riot to an end on 3 October. The operation was successful. The hostage was released unharmed and order in the prison was restored. [4] [5]
Peterhead Prison had a history of poor conditions for prisoners, being referred to as "Scotland's gulag, a prison of no hope." [6] A 2005 inspection reported that electricity had only just been made available in all the cells and slopping out continued at the prison. [7] HMP Peterhead was a specialist centre for sex offenders. [8]
Talks on replacing the prison with a new one began in 2006. [9] They were revived in November 2006. [10] [11] Demolition of part of the prison began on 13 February 2012, with the opening of the new HMP Grampian planned for winter 2013/14. [12] The prison closed on 6 December 2013. [13] The new facility can hold about 500 male and female prisoners – both adults and young offenders – from the Northern Community Justice Authority catchment area. [14] [ needs update ]
In 2016, Peterhead Prison was used as a filming location for the 2018 British zombie action film Redcon-1 .
In January 2022 the prison again became a filming location for Channel 4 series Screw , [15] an STV Studios produced prison drama starring Derry Girls actress Jamie-Lee O'Donnell and The Bill and Killing Eve actress Nina Sosanya. It was confirmed the show has been picked up for a second series. [16]
The building now serves as the Peterhead Prison Museum which provides an Audio Guided Tour of cells, exercise areas, kitchens, laundry, hospital and ancillary rooms. There is a small first-floor cafeteria.
His Majesty's Prison Aylesbury is a category C training prison situated in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the north side of the town centre, on Bierton Road and is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Slopping out is the manual emptying of human waste when prison cells are unlocked in the morning. Inmates without a flush toilet in the cell have to use other means while locked in during the night. The reason that some cells do not have toilets is that they date from the Victorian era and were therefore not designed with plumbing. As a result, there is no space in which to put a toilet, together with the expense and difficulty of installing the necessary pipes.
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England, operated by HM Prison and Probation Service.
Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement, with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landings by UK vessels, according to a 2019 survey.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions.
HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, Bar and Bar-L. In 2018, plans for its closure were announced.
HM Prison Aberdeen was a medium-security prison, located in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. The prison was managed by the Scottish Prison Service. Known as one of the most overcrowded prisons in Scotland, it had a design capacity of 155 and was contracted to hold up to 230 prisoners. However, on the first day of an inspection in January 2009 it held 264 prisoners. In 2014, it was closed in favour of the new HMP Grampian and the site was redeveloped as a housing estate.
HMP & YOI Cornton Vale was a women's prison and young offenders institution in Stirling, Scotland operated by the Scottish Prison Service. The facility comprised a total of 217 cells in its 5 houses. It accepted solely convicted women and girls from 1975 until 1978. In 1978 Parliament passed the necessary legislation to allow females to be held there on remand. Cornton Vale houses female adults and young offenders in Scotland, alongside HMP Grampian, HMP Edinburgh and HMP Polmont. In April 1999, the separation of adults and young offenders was attained. Lady Martha Bruce was the first Governor. The current Governor at Cornton Vale is Paula Arnold.
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.
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.
HMP Hull is a Category B men's local prison located in Kingston upon Hull in England. The term 'local' means that this prison holds people on remand to the local courts. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HMP Bedford is a Category B men's prison, located in the Harpur area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Wymott is a Category C men's prison near Leyland, Lancashire, England. Wymott is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is next to HMP Garth. The prison has facilities for housing sex offenders, in addition to inmates sentenced for mainstream offences.
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 Hewell is a multiple security category men's prison in the village of Tardebigge in Worcestershire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HMP Addiewell is a private prison located near to the village of Addiewell in West Lothian, Scotland. HMP Addiewell is operated by Sodexo Justice Services and contracted to the Scottish Prison Service. The prison holds adult males who have been convicted as well as those being held on remand.
HM Prison Thameside is a Category B men's private prison in the Thamesmead area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south-east London, England. Thameside Prison is operated by Serco and is situated next to Belmarsh and Isis prisons.
HMP & YOI Grampian is a high security prison in Peterhead, Scotland. It is the only such facility in the northeast of the country, having replaced the former HMPs in Aberdeen and Peterhead in 2014. It is the newest jail in Scotland and amongst the newest in the United Kingdom. It has a design capacity of around 560 inmates.
The Peterhead Prison Riot was a prison riot that occurred on 28 September 1987 at HMP Peterhead, in Peterhead.
”Tiffany Louise Scott”, born Andrew Burns, was a Scottish transgender woman and sex offender, who was subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction after he admitted to stalking a 13-year-old girl by sending her letters while serving time in prison. Scott also successfully applied to be transferred from a men's to a women's prison, but the application was blocked in 2023.
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