HM Prison Prescoed

HMP Prescoed

Location	Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales
Coordinates	51°41′10″N2°56′36″W / 51.686193°N 2.943199°W / 51.686193; -2.943199
Security class	Adult Male/Category D
Capacity	230
Population	about 230 [1] (as of May 2013)
Opened	1939
Managed by	HM Prison Services
Governor	Rob Denman [2]
Website	Prescoed at justice.gov.uk

HM Prison Prescoed (Welsh: Carchar Prescoed EF) is a Category D men's open prison, located in Coed-y-paen, three miles from Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. Prescoed is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and acts as a satellite prison of the nearby HMP Usk. ^[3]

History

Prescoed has been re-purposed multiple times since its construction by prisoner labour in 1939. From 1939 to 1964, it was an open borstal for youth. From 1964 to 1983, it was an open Borstal. The nearby HMP Usk was a Detention Centre. It was used for the next five years as an open Youth Custody Centre before, in 1988, becoming an open Young Offender Institution. By 2000, it was transformed into an adult open prison.

In July 2003, Prescoed Prison (along with HMP Usk) was listed by the Prison Service as one of the top five performing Prisons in England and Wales, the first time that prisons had been ranked in a published league table. ^[4]

In 2004 Prescoed started to hold a number of convicted sex offenders who had been transferred from HMP Usk. There was considerable opposition to this from local residents, who feared that such inmates may abscond from the open jail and pose a threat to local children. ^[5] There were several incidents of convicted sex offenders absconding from Prescoed. ^[6] The prison holds [July 2017] around 10% (an average of 25) sex offenders.

In August 2008, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that although there had been "dips in performance", Prescoed and Usk prisons retained good standards. ^[7] Among features of the prison praised by the report were cleanliness, safety, race equality work, and interrelations between staff and prisoners. Also found to be good were the education and training provisions for inmates at both sites. However the report found that staff were not "sufficiently trained." Resettlement projects for inmates at Prescoed were said to be run "reasonably well". ^[7]

Today

Prescoed is an open prison, accommodating Category D adult males. Inmates are normally transferred to Prescoed from other jails (mainly Cardiff, Swansea, Parc, Earlstoke, Channings Wood and sometimes HMP Usk), to serve out the latter parts of their sentences, and re-integrate back into the community before release. Accommodation at the prison is divided into at least 10 purpose-built living units, some with single rooms, rest being doubles where each prisoner usually has his own room key.

All prisoners are interviewed by the Learning and Skills Department of the prison in their first week at Prescoed. A range of education is offered to inmates on a full-time and part-time basis. Vocational training is also offered at Prescoed through work placements. Many inmates work on the prison's farm, which has 120 dairy cattle plus young stock, along with a small herd of pedigree Welsh Black cattle. There is also a sawmill, from which wood products, sourced from a 160-acre (65 ha) woodland, are being developed by prisoners and staff.

Other facilities at the prison include a library, IT suites, gym, and a chaplaincy service. The prison has an operational capacity of 230. ^[8]

Notable inmates

• Chris Zebroski ^[9]
• Mark Aizlewood ^[10]

References

1. http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/prisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/03/usk-prescoed-2013.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
2. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prescoed-prison ^{[ bare URL ]}
3. "Usk/Prescoed (Prescoed) Prison information". justice.gov.uk. Ministry of Justice . Retrieved 24 November 2014.
4. "League table shames worst prisons". BBC News. 24 July 2003. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
5. "Sex offenders at open jail opposed". BBC News . 13 October 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
6. "Fourth prisoner missing from jail". BBC News . 5 August 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
7. "Mixed findings in jail inspection". BBC News. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
8. "Usk/Prescoed (Prescoed) Prison information". Justice.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
9. "Chris Zebroski was close to Newport County return after jail". South Wales Argus. 4 October 2019.
10. "Mark Aizlewood on life after prison". WalesOnline. 18 September 2021.

External links

• Ministry of Justice pages on Prescoed