HM Prison Parkhurst

HM Prison Parkhurst is a Category B men's prison in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.[1] Parkhurst prison is one of the two formerly separate prisons that today make up HMP Isle of Wight, the other being Albany.

HMP Parkhurst
LocationParkhurst, Isle of Wight
Security classAdult Male/Category B
Population497 (as of August 2008)
Opened1805
Managed byHM Prison Services
GovernorDoug Graham
Websitewww.gov.uk/guidance/isle-of-wight-prison

History

Parkhurst as an institution began in 1778 as a military hospital and children's asylum. By 1838, it was a prison for children.[2] 123 Parkhurst apprentices were sent to the Colony of New Zealand in 1842 and 1843,[3] and a total of almost 1500 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 years were sent to various colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Swan River Colony (Western Australia) received 234 between 1842 and 1849, then chose to accept adult convicts as well.[4] Victoria and Tasmania also received "Parkhurst Boys", who were always referred to officially as "apprentices", not as "convicts". Parkhurst Prison Governor Captain George Hall (in office: 1843-1861) employed boys to make bricks to build the C and M block wings onto the building.[3]

Parkhurst was considered one of the toughest jails in the British Isles. Almost from its beginnings as a prison for young offenders, Parkhurst was subject to fierce criticism by the public, politicians and in the press for its harsh régime (including the use of leg irons initially).[5] It became a particular focus of critique for reformers - most notably Mary Carpenter (1807-1877) - campaigning against the use of imprisonment for children.[6] In 1966 Parkhurst became one of the few top-security prisons (called "Dispersals" because they dispersed the more troublesome prisoners rather than concentrating them all in one place) in the United Kingdom, but it lost "Dispersal" status in 1995.[1] In 2009, Parkhurst joined HM Prison Albany to form super-prison HM Prison Isle of Wight, with each site retaining its old name.[7]

1995 escape

On 3 January 1995, three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) made their way out of the prison and enjoyed four days of freedom before being recaptured. One of them, Keith Rose, was an amateur pilot. During those four days, the escapees lived rough in a shed in a garden in Ryde, having failed to steal a plane from the local flying club.[1] A programme entitled Britain's Island Fortress was made about this prison escape for National Geographic Channel's Breakout documentary series.[8]

Notable inmates

High-profile criminals including Lord William Beauchamp Nevill,[9] the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe,[10] Moors Murderer Ian Brady, drug smuggler Terrance John Clark and the Kray twins,[11] were incarcerated there.

Michael Gaughan died at Parkhurst after a 64-day hunger strike. In December 1971, Gaughan had been sentenced at the Old Bailey to seven years imprisonment for his part in an IRA bank robbery in Hornsey, north London, which yielded £530 (equivalent to £8,000 in 2021), and for the possession of two revolvers. On 31 March 1974, Gaughan went on hunger strike demanding political status. British policy at this time was to force feed hunger strikers.[12] Gaughan was force-fed 17 times during course of his hunger strike. The last time he was force-fed was the night before his death on Sunday, 2 June. He died on Monday 3 June 1974, aged 24.[13] Graham Young, also known as the "Teacup Poisoner", died at Parkhurst of a heart attack in 1990.[14]

War criminal Radovan Karadžić has been serving a life sentence at Parkhurst since May 2021.[15]

References
  1. "Parkhurst Prison – Eric Mason homepage". www.ericmasonuk.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  2. "PARKHURST PRISON". BlackSheepAncestors.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  3. Anthony G. Flude (2003). "CONVICTS SENT TO NEW ZEALAND! The Boys from Parkhurst Prison". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  4. "Convict Records". State Records office of Western Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  5. Hagell A and Hazel N (2001) 'Macro and micro patterns in the development of secure custodial institutions for serious and persistent young offenders in England and Wales.' Youth Justice 1, 1, 3–16.
  6. Carpenter, Mary (1851). Reformatory Schools: For the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes and for Juvenile Offenders. London: C. Gilpin. Retrieved 5 April 2009. Reformatory Schools for the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile Offenders.
  7. "Isle of Wight County Press – "Prisons to become HMP Isle of Wight"". www.iwcp.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  8. "Britain's Island Fortess". Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  9. Nevill, Lord William Beauchamp (28 January 1903). Penal Servitude. London: William Heinemann.
  10. "Peter Sutcliffe: The Yorkshire Ripper – The aftermath". www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  11. "The Kray twins at Parkhurst Prison". www.assistnews.net. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  12. "JURIST | School of Law | University of Pittsburgh". Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
  13. Coogan, Tim (2000). The I.R.A.. Harper Collins. pp. 415–418. ISBN 0-00-653155-5.
  14. "Graham Young - Poison, Death & Teacup".
  15. "'Butcher of Bosnia' Radovan Karadzic imprisoned on Isle of Wight". The National (Abu Dhabi). 29 May 2021.

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