His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Category A men's prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion"[a] due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers held there.[2][3]
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| Location | Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England |
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| Coordinates | 53°40′57″N 1°30′33″W / 53.68250°N 1.50917°W |
| Security class | Adult Male/Category A |
| Population | 751 (as of November 2007) |
| Opened | 1594 |
| Managed by | HM Prison Services |
| Governor | Tom Wheatley[1] |
History edit
Wakefield Prison was originally built as a house of correction in 1594. Most of the current prison buildings date from the Victorian era. The current prison was designated a Dispersal prison in 1967, holding 144 inmates and is the oldest of the Dispersal prisons still operating across England and Wales.
The English Dialect Dictionary indicates references to Wakefield were often short for referring to the long-standing prison (e.g. "being sent to Wakefield" meant being sent to prison).[4]
First World War edit
During the First World War, Wakefield Prison was used as a Home Office work camp. The ordinary criminal prisoners were removed, and the new influx were sentenced to two or more years' imprisonment for refusing to obey military orders.[5] After the closure of Dyce Work Camp in October 1916, Wakefield Prison was also used to intern conscientious objectors.[6] In September 1918 a group of conscientious objectors took advantage of a slackening in the prison regime that occurred towards the end of the war, by rebelling and refusing to undertake any work.[6] They issued a list of demands for better treatment, known as the Wakefield Manifesto.[6]
IRA prisoners edit
As a high-security prison, Wakefield was used to house IRA prisoners intermittently during the 20th century. In some cases in the 1950s, the IRA attempted to free the prisoners, such as Cathal Goulding in 1956 (the attempt was aborted when the sirens sounded)[7] and James Andrew Mary Murphy in 1959 (who was freed).[8] During a hunger strike by Provisional IRA prisoners, Frank Stagg died in Wakefield Prison on 12 February 1976.[9] The case brought international media attention as the Irish Government denied Stagg's last request for a military funeral march from Dublin to Ballina, and instead arranged for the Irish police to bury him secretly.[10] On 1 March 1976, Merlyn Rees, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Wilson ministry, announced that those people convicted of causing terrorist offences would no longer be entitled to Special Category Status, which was challenged during later hunger strikes.[11]
Recent history edit
In 2001, it was announced that a new ultra-secure unit was to be built at Wakefield Prison. The unit was 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.[12][better source needed]
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 prison's inmates claimed to have been victimised.[13]
Facilities edit
Wakefield Prison holds approximately 600 of Britain's most dangerous people (mainly sex offenders, murderers, and prisoners serving life sentences). 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. Like other HM Prisons, all offenders are subject to mandatory drugs testing and there are voluntary testing arrangements, which are compulsory for all offenders employed, for example as wing cleaners or kitchen workers.[14]
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.
A prison inspection in 2018 found that Wakefield Prison was on the whole calm, secure, decent and well managed. Still, prisoners needing psychiatric care face unacceptable delays before they are transferred to secure psychiatric hospitals, and prisoners' mental condition worsens while they are waiting for transfer. Peter Clarke said, "Because of the totally unacceptable delays in doing so, many prisoners across the prison estate are held in conditions that are not in any way therapeutic and indeed in many cases clearly exacerbate their condition. (...) The situation at Wakefield was yet another example of prisoners with severe illness not receiving the care that they needed." Inspectors noted a prisoner who was "exceptionally challenging to manage and had complex needs that could not be met in the prison. While staff attempted to manage him positively and constructively, his condition was deteriorating during a lengthy wait to be admitted to a secure hospital," according to the inspection report.[15]
Notable inmates edit
Current edit
- Jeremy Bamber – Convicted of the murder of his adoptive mother, father, sister and his sister's two sons in 1985.[16]
- Damien Bendall – Sentenced to whole life order after admitting to murdering his pregnant partner, her two children (aged 13 & 11) and a school friend of one of the children (also aged 11). He also admitted to raping one of the children before she died.[17]
- Kamel Bourgass – Islamic terrorist convicted of the murder of police officer Stephen Oake and the attempted murder of two other police officers.[18]
- Mark Bridger – A paedophile who abducted and murdered a 5-year-old girl in 2012.[19]
- Sidney Cooke – Child molester and serial killer who raped and murdered Mark Tildesley, Jason Swift and Barry Lewis.
- John Cooper – serial killer[20][21][22]
- Thomas Hughes – The father of 6-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes who was murdered by his stepmother, Emma Tustin in June 2020. He was sentenced to 24 years for manslaughter.[23]
- Robert Maudsley – Serial killer. Maudsley is Britain's longest serving prisoner in solitary confinement.[24]
- Jordan Monaghan – Serving life with a minimum of 48 years for murdering his 23-year-old girlfriend in 2019 along with his 21-month-old son and his newborn daughter in 2013.[23]
- Mick Philpott – found guilty in April 2013 of causing the deaths of six of his children by arson.[25]
- Jack Renshaw – Neo-Nazi and child sex offender who plotted to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper.[26][27]
- Reynhard Sinaga – Serial rapist who raped numerous men.[28]
- Ian Watkins – Former lead singer and lyricist of the band Lostprophets, convicted of several sex offences, some involving children and infants.[29][30][31]
- Roy Whiting – Child molester, kidnapper, and murderer of Sarah Payne in 2000[32]
Former edit
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- Robert Black – Convicted in 1994 of murdering three young girls during the 1980s, spent many years at HMP Wakefield before he was transferred to HMP Maghaberry in Northern Ireland, where he died in 2016.[33]
- Charles Bronson, known in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain" and "Britain's most notorious prisoner".[34][35]
- Klaus Fuchs – Spy 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.[36]
- Fred Haslam (1897–1979) – a First World War conscientious objector[37]
- Ian Huntley – convicted of the Soham double child murder and imprisoned at HMP Wakefield from 2004 to 2008, when he was moved to HMP Frankland.[38]
- Colin Ireland – Serial killer dubbed "The Gay Slayer" who murdered five homosexual men in a three-month span in the early 1990s; died from Pulmonary fibrosis in 2012.[39]
- Stefan Ivan Kiszko, wrongly convicted of murder[40]
- Radislav Krstić – Bosnian Serb war criminal[41]
- Michael Sams[42]
- Harold Shipman – Widely considered the most prolific serial killer in modern history; Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison on 13 January 2004, one day short of his 58th birthday. Shipman had been on round-the-clock suicide watch at two previous prisons, but such 'special measures' had not been deemed necessary after his transfer to Wakefield.[43]
- Deividas Skebas – Stabbed nine-year-old girl to death on street in Boston, Lincolnshire. Moved to Rampton secure hospital after being deemed unfit to stand trial.[44][45]
Notes edit
- ^ Wakefield shares this same nickname as another notorious prison, HM Prison Frankland (located in County Durham, England).
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Wakefield Prison information". Justice.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Thompson, Tony (27 April 2003). "The caged misery of Britain's real 'Hannibal the Cannibal'". The Observer. London. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "A long way to go at 'monster mansion'". Wakefield Express. Wakefield. 6 October 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ English Dialect Dictionary part 6 (1905), Joseph Wright, page 364
- ^ Webb, Simon (31 January 2016). British Concentration Camps: A Brief History from 1900–1975. Oxford, UK: Casemate Publishers. pp. 58–60. ISBN 9781473846326.
- ^ a b c Kramar, Ann (30 November 2014). Conscientious Objectors of the First World War: A Determined Resistance. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781473842441.
- ^ The IRA 12th impression, Tim Pat Coogan, pages 346–347, William Collins, Sons & Co., Glasgow, 1987
- ^ The IRA 12th impression, Tim Pat Coogan, pages 410–411, William Collins, Sons & Co., Glasgow, 1987
- ^ The IRA 12th impression, Tim Pat Coogan, page 518, William Collins, Sons & Co., Glasgow, 1987
- ^ The IRA 12th impression, Tim Pat Coogan, page 520, William Collins, Sons & Co., Glasgow, 1987
- ^ http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm The Hunger Strike of 1981 – A Chronology of Main Events, Dr. Martin Melaugh, University of Ulster: Conflict Archive on the Internet
- ^ "New unit for killer inmates". bbc.co.uk. 23 January 2001. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ "Staff 'disrespectful' to inmates". bbc.co.uk. 25 March 2004. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ Gravett, Steve (2000). Drugs in prison : a practitioners guide to penal policy and practice in Her Majesty's Prison Service. London: Continuum. pp. 90–91. ISBN 0826451276.
- ^ "Inspectors warn of worsening conditions for mentally ill inmates". The Guardian. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ "Jeremy Bamber bids for legal action over prison status". BBC News. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Damien Bendall admits Killamarsh murders and rape". DerbyshireLive. 21 December 2022. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Muslim extremists plot escape from prison". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ "Mark Bridger attacked in prison". The Guardian. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ Venn, Lydia (13 January 2021). "Where are the real life people from The Pembrokeshire Murders now?". The Tab. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ Fear, Helen (11 January 2021). "The Pembrokeshire Murders on ITV: Which prison is John Cooper in and will he ever leave?". Entertainment Daily. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Serial killer is one of 4,000 in prison to have vaccine". Sunday Mirror Northern Ireland. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ a b Johnson, Morgan (4 May 2022). "Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' killer could face whole-life term in court". CoventryLive. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ Thompson, Tony (27 April 2003). "The caged misery of Britain's real 'Hannibal the Cannibal'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ Naylor, Martin; Fricker, Martin (6 January 2021). "Derby child killer Mick Philpott 'wants reunion' with ex-wife Mairead". The Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Lancashire Man Sentenced To Life". Counter Terrorism Policing. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Robinson, Andrew (14 March 2021). "The 'vile and malicious' neo-Nazi paedophile who is serving his time in Wakefield's Monster Mansion". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ Abbit, Beth (30 April 2020). "Serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga moved from Manchester to notorious 'Monster Mansion'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Ian Watkins moved to same prison as child killer Ian Huntley". Wales Online. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
- ^ "Paedophile singer 'had phone in prison'". BBC News. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Lostprophets' Ian Watkins found guilty of possessing mobile phone he hid up his bum in prison". Birmingham Mail. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Roy Whiting: Men who attacked Sarah Payne's killer jailed". BBC News. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "Child killer Robert Black dies in prison". The Herald. Scotland. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- ^ Bronson, Charles; Ackroyd, Robin (2000). Bronson. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd. pp. 49, 290, 298. ISBN 1-85782-393-1.
- ^ Mina, Denise (13 January 2003). "Why are women drawn to men behind bars?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
- ^ "Dr. Fuchs Goes To E. Germany". The Times. No. 54495. 24 June 1959. p. 10. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ Josephson, Harold (1985). Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders. Connecticut: Greenwood. pp. 386-7. ISBN 0-313-22565-6.
- ^ "Soham killer treated for overdose". BBC News. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ "Torture murderer dies in prison". BBC News. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ Roberts, Alison (22 February 1992). "Prison years were hell, says freed man". The Times. No. 64262. p. 3. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ "Radislav Krstic: Serbian war criminal attacked in British jail". The Daily Telegraph. 8 May 2010.
- ^ "Sams receives further 8 years for cell attack". The Daily Telegraph. 16 March 2005. Archived from the original on 16 March 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Shipman suicide 'not preventable'". BBC News. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ Hardy, Jack (27 August 2022). "Man accused of murdering nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte is attacked in prison". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
- ^ "Lilia Valutyte stabbing: Man killed nine-year-old girl, jury finds". BBC News. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
External links edit
