Wakefield (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
HM Prison Wakefield is a Category A
men's prison
, located in Wakefield
, West Yorkshire
, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
, and is the largest maximum security prison in the United Kingdom (and western Europe). The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders incarcerated there.
times. The current prison was designated a ‘dispersal' prison in 1966 (the longest of the remaining original group).
security unit was to be built at Wakefield Prison. The unit was to be built to house the most dangerous inmates within the British prisons system, and was the first such unit of its kind to be built in the United Kingdom.
In March 2004, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
criticised staff at Wakefield prison for being disrespectful to inmates. The report claimed that the prison was "over-controlled", and a third of the prisons inmates claimed to have been victimised.
s and prisoners serving life sentences for violent crimes against women and children). Accommodation at the prison comprises single occupancy cells with integral sanitation. All residential units have kitchens available for offenders to prepare their own meals. An Incentives and Earned Privileges system allows standard and enhanced offenders the opportunity of in-cell TV. All offenders are subject to mandatory drugs testing and there are voluntary testing arrangements, which are compulsory for all offenders employed as e.g. wing cleaners or kitchen workers.
HMP Wakefield offers a range of activities for inmates, including charity work, an accredited course in industrial cleaning, and a Braille shop where offenders convert books to Braille. The Education Department is operated by The Manchester College
, and offers learning opportunities ranging from basic skills to Open University
courses. Other facilities include a prison shop, gym
, and multi-faith chaplaincy.
Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
There are four prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom used to classify every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape....
men's prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, located in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
, and is the largest maximum security prison in the United Kingdom (and western Europe). The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders incarcerated there.
History
Wakefield Prison was originally built as a house of correction in 1594. Most of the current prison buildings date from the VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
times. The current prison was designated a ‘dispersal' prison in 1966 (the longest of the remaining original group).
"Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush"
The Prison yard at Wakefield has a Mulberry tree around which female inmates used to exercise. This has been linked to the nursery rhyme 'Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush' by the erstwhile prison governor, RS Duncan in his book 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' The House of Correction 1595 / HM Prison Wakefield 1995 (published by author 1994). This origin of the song is also propounded on the prison's website.Recent history
In 2001, it was announced that a new SupermaxSupermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
security unit was to be built at Wakefield Prison. The unit was to be built to house the most dangerous inmates within the British prisons system, and was the first such unit of its kind to be built in the United Kingdom.
In March 2004, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales...
criticised staff at Wakefield prison for being disrespectful to inmates. The report claimed that the prison was "over-controlled", and a third of the prisons inmates claimed to have been victimised.
The prison today
Wakefield Prison holds approximately 600 of Britain's most dangerous men (mainly sex offenderSex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
s and prisoners serving life sentences for violent crimes against women and children). Accommodation at the prison comprises single occupancy cells with integral sanitation. All residential units have kitchens available for offenders to prepare their own meals. An Incentives and Earned Privileges system allows standard and enhanced offenders the opportunity of in-cell TV. All offenders are subject to mandatory drugs testing and there are voluntary testing arrangements, which are compulsory for all offenders employed as e.g. wing cleaners or kitchen workers.
HMP Wakefield offers a range of activities for inmates, including charity work, an accredited course in industrial cleaning, and a Braille shop where offenders convert books to Braille. The Education Department is operated by The Manchester College
The Manchester College
The Manchester College is a further education college in Manchester, England. It opened on 1 August 2008 as the result of a merger between City College Manchester and Manchester College of Arts and Technology to form a 'supercollege'...
, and offers learning opportunities ranging from basic skills to Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
courses. Other facilities include a prison shop, gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
, and multi-faith chaplaincy.
Former inmates
- Spy Klaus FuchsKlaus FuchsKlaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
, convicted of supplying information from British and American nuclear weapon research to the USSR, served nine years and four months of his fourteen-year term at Wakefield, between 1951 and 1959.
- Serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman committed suicide at Wakefield Prison in 2004. (Shipman had been on round-the-clock suicide watchSuicide watchSuicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not die by suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital, or military bases...
at two previous prisons, but such 'special measures' had not been deemed necessary after his transferral to Wakefield
- Child murderer and sex offender Ian Huntley was held at Wakefield until 23 January 2008 when he was moved to HMP FranklandFrankland (HM Prison)HM Prison Frankland is a Category A men's prison located in the village of Brasside in County Durham, England. Frankland is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
Current inmates
- Steven Barker
- David BieberDavid BieberDavid Francis Bieber also known under the alias Nathan Wayne Coleman is an American convicted murderer. A fugitive from the United States, he murdered PC Ian Broadhurst and attempted to murder PCs Neil Roper and James Banks on 26 December 2003 in Leeds, England, sparking a nationwide search...
- Russell BishopRussell Bishop (sex offender)Russell Bishop is a convicted child molester and abductor. He is serving life imprisonment for the abduction, molestation and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl in the Whitehawk area of Brighton. He committed the crime on 4 February 1990, and was sentenced on 13 December 1990...
- Robert Black
- Charles BronsonCharles Bronson (prisoner)Charles Bronson is a Welsh criminal often referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain"....
- Sidney CookeSidney CookeSidney Cooke , is an English convicted child molester serving two life sentences.-Biography:...
- Stephen GriffithsBradford murdersThe Bradford murders were three serial killings of female sex workers from the northern English city of Bradford in 2009 and 2010.43-year-old Susan Rushworth disappeared on 22 June 2009, followed by 31-year-old Shelley Armitage on 26 April 2010 and 36-year-old Suzanne Blamires on 21 May of the same...
- Mark HobsonMark HobsonMark Richard "Hobo" Hobson is a British spree killer who killed four people in North Yorkshire, England in July 2004. He was arrested after an eight-day nationwide manhunt involving more than 500 police officers and 12 police forces, during which time he was Britain's "most wanted man"...
- Antoni ImielaAntoni ImielaAntoni Imiela is a British rapist and paedophile of German and Polish origin, found guilty of the rape of nine women and girls, and the kidnap, indecent assault, and attempted rape of a 10-year old girl...
- Momcilo KrajisnikMomcilo KrajišnikMomčilo Krajišnik is a Bosnian Serb former politician convicted of murder and other crimes against humanity during the Bosnian war .He co-founded the Bosnian Serb nationalist Serbian Democratic Party with Radovan...
- Radislav KrsticRadislav KrsticRadislav Krstić was the Deputy Commander and later Chief of Staff of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska from October 1994 until 12 July 1995...
- Carl Manning
- Robert MaudsleyRobert MaudsleyRobert John Maudsley is a British serial killer responsible for the murders of four people. He committed three of these murders in prison after receiving a life sentence for a single murder...
- Michael SamsMichael SamsMichael Sams is an English rapist, kidnapper, extortionist and murderer who kidnapped Julie Dart on 9 July 1991 and Stephanie Slater on 22 January 1992....
- Roy Whiting