Red Bank secure unit

53.445545°N 2.612708°W / 53.445545; -2.612708

Front entrance of Red Bank, shortly before closure. It is now cordoned off by a security gate.

Red Bank secure unit, part of Red Bank Community Home, was one of several English Local Authority Secure Children’s Homes (a juvenile detention facility) located in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. It opened in 1965, when it was one of three such units, and accepted both boys and girls.[1] The unit closed in May 2015.[2]

In 1990, when it housed 26 boys and young men convicted of serious crimes including murder, rape and arson, John Evans, the local member of parliament, described its work as "excellent and valuable" and said, "the special unit is not a harsh place, but it has rules that must be adhered to. The young people learn self-control and discipline in an affectionate environment that is sensitive to their special needs."[3] It later specialised in accommodating child sex offenders.[4] In 2009, it was one of nine secure children's homes in England.[5]

Since the 2015 closure, it has been alleged that at least one of the former care units were being used as a police training establishment.

It is now a school for SEMH children called Willow Bank

Notable inmates
  • Mary Bell, from 1968 to 1973. Bell was transferred to Red Bank secure unit where she was the only female among approximately 24 inmates.[6] Bell would later claim that she was sexually abused by a member of staff and several inmates while incarcerated at this facility,[7] claiming the sexual abuse began when she was 13.[8]
  • Jon Venables, from 1993 to 2001, in Vardy House, a small eight-bedded unit.[9] Venables was one of James Bulger's killers.[4] Despite initial problems, Venables was said to have eventually made good progress at Red Bank, resulting in him being kept there for the full eight years, despite the facility only being a short-stay remand unit.[9] Allegations that a female employee of the unit had engaged in sexual activity with Venables while he was imprisoned there were widely reported in 2011.[10]

References
  1. "'Children Referred to Closed Units' by Pat Cawson and Mary Martell", The Therapeutic Care Journal, 1 December 2009, retrieved 17 November 2016
  2. Red Bank School, Department for Education, retrieved 17 November 2016
  3. House of Commons Debate 4, Hansard, 12 November 1990, retrieved 17 November 2016
  4. Paul Vallely (21 January 2010), "The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons", The Independent
  5. Mithran Samuel (27 March 2009), Four secure children's homes lose Youth Justice Board contracts, Community Care, retrieved 17 November 2016
  6. "Inside Abandoned Red Bank Unit Where Jon Venables Was Held". The Warrington Guardian. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  7. "The Mary Bell Affair: The Mob Will Move On; The Pain Never Can". The Guardian. 3 May 1998. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  8. "Police Investigate Bell's Abuse Claims". The Independent. 2 May 1998. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  9. Smith, David James (3 April 2011). "The Secret Life of a Killer" (PDF). The Sunday Times Magazine: 22–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2013.
  10. David James Smith (27 March 2011), "Bulger killer had sex in prison", The Sunday Times, archived from the original on 25 November 2013, retrieved 17 November 2016
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