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Location | Adamsdown, Cardiff |
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Coordinates | 51°28′52″N3°10′06″W / 51.48111°N 3.16833°W Coordinates: 51°28′52″N3°10′06″W / 51.48111°N 3.16833°W |
Security class | Adult Male/Category B |
Population | 800(as of September 2008) |
Opened | 1832 |
Managed by | HM Prison Service |
Website | Cardiff at justice.gov.uk |
HM Prison Cardiff (Welsh: Carchar Caerdydd EF) is a Category B men's prison, located in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff, Wales. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
By 1814, the existing Cardiff Gaol was deemed insufficient for coping with both the scale of demand and quality of building to cope with the quickly expanding industrial town, and so proposals were made to build a new county jail for Glamorgan. [1] Construction commenced in 1827, and the new stone building located south of Crockherbtown opened at the end of 1832, capable of housing 80 prisoners, including 20 debtors. [2]
The three Victorian wings of Cardiff Prison underwent a major refurbishment programme in 1996, and the prison’s capacity was extended by the commissioning of three new wings (C, D and E), with the number of places for life-sentenced prisoners increased also.
In 1997 Cardiff Prison was criticised for chaining sick inmates to their hospital beds after a probe into the death of one of Cardiff's prisoners. [3] Three years later one of Cardiff's Assistant Governors was found dead after an investigation into child pornography. The manager had been arrested at the prison days earlier by detectives investigating the alleged misuse of a personal computer. [4]
Cardiff Prison was criticised in 2001 for its cell-share policy in the wake of an inmate's death. Prison officials were advised to carry out full checks on prisoners on their arrival, to prevent violent or even fatal incidents from occurring. [5] A year later the prison was criticised again for its poor record in dealing with drug abuse and providing decent recreation facilities for inmates. [6]
A total of 20 judicial executions took place at Cardiff prison.[ citation needed ] The condemned prisoners were hanged for the crime of murder. Their names, ages and dates of execution are:
The remains of executed prisoners were buried in unmarked graves within the prison walls, as was customary. In late 2003, after capital punishment had been abolished in the UK, the remains of Corbett, Roberts, Grossley, Evans, Wills and Singh were exhumed from the prison grounds and reburied elsewhere in order to make space for the construction of a new cell block. [9] [10] The precise location of the new cell block is 51°28′47.58″N3°10′04.68″W / 51.4798833°N 3.1679667°W .
The remains of Mahmood Mattan (executed in 1952 but cleared of murder in 1998) [11] had previously been exhumed from the same location for reburial in 1996. Mattan is now buried in the Muslim section of Western Cemetery, Cardiff. His tombstone bears the epitaph "Killed by Injustice". After Mattan's conviction was quashed, his widow Laura and three sons (David, Omar and Mervyn) received the sum of £725,000 in compensation from the British Government. [12]
Cardiff Prison accepts male adult prisoners remanded into custody who are drawn predominantly from the surrounding court catchment area of South Wales. In addition Cardiff also houses sentenced Category B and C prisoners.
Cardiff’s regime includes full-time education, employment in the prison workshops, and training courses. There is a resettlement unit that offers prisoners various offending behaviour programmes and work based courses, and a Detoxification Unit accommodating 50 prisoners.
In 1999 the actor Keith Allen played a Probation and Parole officer at the prison, in the BBC television series Jack of Hearts . [13]
HM Prison Pentonville is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of the London Borough of Islington, north London. In 2015 the justice secretary, Michael Gove, described Pentonville as "the most dramatic example of failure" within the prisons estate.
His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category-A men's prison in Thamesmead, south-east London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds there is a unique unit called the High Security Unit (HSU) which is a 48 single-cell unit regarded as the most secure prison unit in the United Kingdom. It is run by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Forest Bank is a Category B men's private prison, in the Agecroft area of Pendlebury in Salford near Manchester, England. The prison is operated by Sodexo Justice Services.
HM Prison Manchester is a Category A men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is located, until it was rebuilt following a major riot in 1990.
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.
HM Prison Stafford is a Category C men's prison, located in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. In 2014 it became a sex offender-only jail.
HM Prison Shrewsbury was a Category B/C men's prison in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It was decommissioned in March 2013, and is now open to the public.
HM Prison Leicester is a Category B men's Local prison, located on Welford Road in the centre of Leicester, Leicestershire, England. The term 'local' means that the prison holds people on remand to the local courts, as well as sentenced prisoners. Leicester Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is situated immediately north of Nelson Mandela Park.
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 His Majesty's Prison Service. Women prisoners were moved in 2005 due to overcrowding and suicides.
HM Prison Swansea is a Category B/C men's prison, located in the Sandfields area of Swansea, Wales. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is colloquially known as 'Cox's farm', after a former governor.
HM Prison Leeds is a Category B men's prison, located at Gloucester Terrace in the Armley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1847. Leeds Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is still known locally as Armley Gaol, the historical name for the prison.
HM Prison Wayland is a Category C men's prison, located near the village of Griston in Norfolk, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
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 held some 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 Bristol is a Category B men's prison, located in the Horfield area of Bristol. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Winchester is a Category B men's prison, located in Winchester, Hampshire, England. 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 Elmley is a local Category B/C men's prison, located close to the village of Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. The term 'local' means that this prison holds people on remand to the local courts. Elmley once formed part of the Sheppey prisons cluster, which included HMP Standford Hill and HMP Swaleside; it is now a stand-alone establishment. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Liverpool is a category B local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
HM Prison Swaleside is a Category B men's prison, located close to the village of Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Swaleside forms part of the Sheppey prison cluster, which also includes HMP Standford Hill. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
Mahmood Hussein Mattan was a British Somali former merchant seaman who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Lily Volpert on 6 March 1952. The murder took place in the Docklands area of Cardiff, Wales, and Mattan was mainly convicted on the evidence of a single prosecution witness. Mattan was executed in 1952 and his conviction was quashed 45 years later on 24 February 1998, his case being the first to be referred to the Court of Appeal by the newly formed Criminal Cases Review Commission.