Wakefield (HM Prison)

HMP Wakefield
Opened	1594
Management	HM Prison Service
Prison type	Adult Male/Category A
Prisoner figures	751 (November 2007)
Location	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Governor	Susan Howard
Information	www.justice.gov.uk

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.

History

Wakefield Prison was originally built as a house of correction in 1594. Most of the current prison buildings date from the Victorian 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 Supermax 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.

The prison today

Wakefield Prison holds approximately 600 of Britain's most dangerous men (mainly sex offenders 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.

Notable inmates

Former inmates

• Spy Klaus Fuchs, 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 watch 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 Frankland

Current inmates

• Steven Barker
• David Bieber
• Russell Bishop
• Robert Black
• Charles Bronson
• Sidney Cooke
• Stephen Griffiths
• Mark Hobson
• Antoni Imiela
• Momcilo Krajisnik
• Radislav Krstic
• Carl Manning
• Robert Maudsley
• Michael Sams
• Roy Whiting

External links

• Ministry of Justice pages on Wakefield