See also
- Manual scavenging, a system of emptying "dry" toilets
- Bucket toilet
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 (formerly a chamber pot, then a bucket, now often a chemical toilet) 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.
During the late 1970s, Provisional IRA volunteers protested against conditions of internment at HM Prison Maze by refusing to slop out and instead smearing their faeces on the cell walls. This was later referred to as the Dirty protest, part of several acts of disobedience within the "H-Blocks" culminating in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.
Slopping out was allegedly abolished in England and Wales by 1996, although Private Eye in 2011 reported that Prisons Inspector Nick Hardwick stated that it still persisted at HMP Gloucester. [1]
It was scheduled to be abolished in Scotland by 1999. [2] [3] Due to budget restraints the abolition was delayed, and by 2004 prisoners in five of Scotland's sixteen prisons still had to slop out. [2] Slopping out ended in HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont in 2007, leaving HM Prison Peterhead as the last Scottish prison where prisoners did not have access to plumbing; 300 prisoners had to use chemical toilets due to the difficulty of installing modern plumbing in the prison's granite structure. [4] [5] Peterhead ultimately closed in December 2013. [6]
Slopping out is still in practice in prisons in the Republic of Ireland. [7] Speaking at the launch of the Irish Human Rights Commission's Annual Report for 2009, the Green Party Junior Minister for Integration Mary White said it was time to move on from the Victorian practice. Slopping out was eradicated in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison by the end of 2013 [8] and in Cork Prison in 2016. [9] However, the practice continues at Limerick Prison. [10] [11]
A "potwalloper" was a trusty prisoner who made sure the buckets were emptied and cleaned each morning. He did not do the cleaning himself, but he was responsible for making sure that other prisoners did.
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous although independently developed office in Iceland that is commonly translated to English as sheriff, and this is discussed below.
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.
Mountjoy Prison, founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison warden is Brian Murphy.
A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of administrative region which exists for the purpose of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths and civil partnerships. It has also been used as the basis for the collation of census information.
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 and Bar-L. In 2018, plans for its closure were announced.
HM Prison Durham is a Georgian era reception Category B men's prison, located in the Elvet area of Durham in County Durham, England. Built in 1819, the prison continues to be operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. Women prisoners were moved in 2005 due to overcrowding and suicides.
Cornton Vale is a women's prison in Stirling, operated by the Scottish Prison Service. Built in 1975, Cornton Vale comprises 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. It was expected to close by 2020, to be replaced by a number of smaller regional units which have been delayed. Lady Martha Bruce was the first Governor. The Current Governor at Cornton Vale is Jackie Clinton.
HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Glen Parva was an adult male prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Glen Parva, Leicestershire, England. Glen Parva was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
HMP Peterhead was a prison in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, operating from 1888-2013. Since June 2016, the former grounds operate as the Peterhead Prison Museum.
The 1990 Strangeways Prison riot was a 25-day prison riot and rooftop protest at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England. The riot began on 1 April 1990 when prisoners took control of the prison chapel, and the riot quickly spread throughout most of the prison. The riot and rooftop protest ended on 25 April when the final five prisoners were removed from the rooftop, making it the longest prison riot in British penal history. One prisoner was killed during the riot, and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured. Much of the prison was damaged or destroyed, with the cost of repairs coming to £55 million.
HM Prison Liverpool is a category B/C local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Exeter is a category B local and resettlement men's prison, located in Exeter in the county of Devon, England. It holds men sentenced by the courts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset. There are also prisoners from further afield who have been transferred from other prisons. Exeter Prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Featherstone is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Featherstone, in Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by Her 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 Her 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.
An independent custody visitor is someone who visits people who are detained in police stations in the United Kingdom to ensure that they are being treated properly. Prisoner escort and custody lay observers carry out a similar function in relation to the escort of prisoners from one place to another, or their custody at court.
Prisons in the Republic of Ireland are one of the main forms of punishment, rehabilitation, or both for the commission of an indictable offense and other offenses. Prisons in Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, are run by the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
Cork Prison is an Irish penal institution on Rathmore Road, Cork City, Ireland. It is a closed, medium security prison for males over 17 years of age, with capacity for 275 prisoners. It is immediately adjacent to Collins Barracks and near the Glen area of the city.
In most jurisdictions, prison inmates are forbidden from possessing mobile phones due to their ability to communicate with the outside world and other security issues. Mobile phones are one of the most smuggled items into prisons. They provide inmates the ability to make and receive unauthorized phone calls, send email and text messages, use social media, and follow news pertaining to their case, among other forbidden uses.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland has impacted the country's judicial system. Several people were arrested for COVID-19-related offences, while prisoners were released. Two operations, Operation Fanacht and Operation Navigation, were launched.