| HMP Parkhurst | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1805 |
| Management | HM Prison Service |
| Prison type | Adult Male/Category B |
| Prisoner figures | 497 (August 2008) |
| Location | Parkhurst, Isle of Wight |
| Governor | Barry Greenberyy |
| Information | www.justice.gov.uk |
HMP Isle of Wight - Parkhurst Barracks is a prison situated in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.[1]
Parkhurst prison is one of the three prisons that make up HMP Isle of Wight, the other two being Camp Hill, and Albany. Parkhurst and Albany were once amongst the few top-security prisons (called "Dispersals" because they dispersed the more troublesome prisoners rather than concentrated them all in one place) in the United Kingdom, but were downgraded in the 1990s.[1]
The downgrading of Parkhurst was preceded by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) made their way out of the prison on 3 January 1995 to enjoy four days of freedom before being recaptured. One of them, Keith Rose, is an amateur pilot. During those four days, they were living rough in a shed in a garden in Ryde, having failed to steal a plane from the local airclub.[1] Parkhurst enjoyed notoriety as one of the toughest jails in the British Isles and many notable criminals, including the Richardson brothers,[1] the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe,[2] Kenny Carter,[3] Moors Murderer Ian Brady,[4] and the Kray twins,[5] were incarcerated there.
Camp Hill is located adjacent and to the west of Albany and Parkhurst, on the very edge of Parkhurst Forest. Originally on the site of an army camp (both Albany and Parkhurst were barracks) with a small estate of tree-lined roads with well-proportioned officer's quarters (with varying grandeur according to rank but now privately owned) to the South and East, having been converted to a borstal and later a category C prison.
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Parkhurst Prison was first built as a military hospital in 1805 and was later transformed to a prison for boys awaiting deportation, mainly to Australia, as part of the Parkhurst act of 1835. By 1847, a new wing (C Wing) had been built by the prisoners, digging the clay and baking the bricks themselves. This wing is still in operation today. From 1863 to 1869, Parkhurst served as a female prison; however, after this date, it was converted to a male prison and has served as such ever since. In 1968 it became one of the first dispersal prisons. The prison remained as high security until the mid 1990s when it was downgraded to Category B.[6]
In October 2008, it was announced that the name Parkhurst could be lost, along with the two other prison names, Albany and Camphill. The three would become part of a cluster prison with one governor in charge. New names for the larger single prison have been suggested as HMP Solent, HMP Mountbatten and HMP Vectis.[7] HMP Isle of Wight was later selected as the new name for the super prison incorporating all three island prisons.[8]
The accommodation at Parkhurst consists mainly of single cells with an operational capacity of 497. The prison takes criminals serving over four years (including vulnerable prisoners), prisoners at stage 1 or 2 of a life sentence and Isle of Wight remands.[6]
The regime at the prison includes a gymnasium of nationally recognised quality and a range of training including education up to and including Open University level. There are nine workshops dealing with upholstery, arts & crafts, laundry, wheelchair repairs, breakfast packing, Aramark, BICS Cleaning and gardens. The prison also runs ETS, CALM and CSCP offending behaviour programmes.[6]
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