Weare (HM Prison)

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HMP Weare is a prison ship berthed in Portland Harbour in Dorset, England. It was Britain's only prison ship.

The UK established in 1997 the Weare as a temporary measure to ease prison overcrowding. Weare was docked at the disused Royal Navy dockyard at Portland, Dorset. On 9 March 2005 it was announced that Weare was to close.

Among the options about what to do with the ship were moving it to London or sinking it in Portland Harbour or around the Isle of Portland as a man-made reef and as a diving location.

Famous inmates of HMP Weare include Dan Treacy, founder of the influential UK new-wave band Television Personalities, who was incarcerated from 1998 to June 2004 for an unknown drug-related misdemeanor.

[edit] External links

• Aerial photo of Weare (HM Prison). Other map and aerial photo sources.
• Guardian newspaper article