Blundeston (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
HM Prison Blundeston is a Category C
men's prison
, located in the Village of Blundeston
in Suffolk
, England
. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
.
In 1996 the prison came under intense criticism after six inmates escaped whist being transferred to other jails. The escapers had allegedly been running their own 'criminal empire' at Blundeston before their transfer. Further controversy hit the prison in 2003 when a prison officer was "sacked for making an insulting remark about...Osama bin Laden
." This followed reports that inmates at Blundeston had seen their fruit quota cut after some had been accused of fermenting it to make alcohol.
HMP Blundeston provides workshops, training courses, a Listener Scheme and a full-time Resettlement Officer. Blundeston's visitor centre is staffed and managed by the Ormiston Children and Families Trust with facilities including a refreshments area, toilets, public pay phone and play facilities for children. There is also a supervised small playroom for children between the ages of 2–8 years.
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 the Village of Blundeston
Blundeston
Blundeston is a village and civil parish in the Waveney district of Suffolk, England. It is about inland, and between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. 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...
.
History
Opened in 1963 with four wings, Blundeston Prison was expanded in 1975 with two additional wings.In 1996 the prison came under intense criticism after six inmates escaped whist being transferred to other jails. The escapers had allegedly been running their own 'criminal empire' at Blundeston before their transfer. Further controversy hit the prison in 2003 when a prison officer was "sacked for making an insulting remark about...Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
." This followed reports that inmates at Blundeston had seen their fruit quota cut after some had been accused of fermenting it to make alcohol.
The prison today
Accommodation at the prison includes 4 wings of single cells and 2 wings of 2 or 4 man cells. The therepeutic wing has single cell accommodation. As none of the cells are located on the ground floor of the prison (And there is no accessible lift system) Blundeston cannot accept disabled prisoners.HMP Blundeston provides workshops, training courses, a Listener Scheme and a full-time Resettlement Officer. Blundeston's visitor centre is staffed and managed by the Ormiston Children and Families Trust with facilities including a refreshments area, toilets, public pay phone and play facilities for children. There is also a supervised small playroom for children between the ages of 2–8 years.
Notable former inmates
- John StonehouseJohn StonehouseJohn Thomson Stonehouse was a British politician and minister under Harold Wilson. Stonehouse is perhaps best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt at faking his own death in 1974...
, a former Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
who was convicted of fraud, theft, forgery, conspiracy to defraud, causing a false police investigation and wasting police time after faking his own death. Stonehouse served the last years of his sentence at Blundeston before being released in 1979. - Richard ReidRichard Reid (shoe bomber)Richard Colvin Reid , also known as the Shoe Bomber, is a self-admitted member of al-Qaeda who pled guilty in 2002 in U.S. federal court to eight criminal counts of terrorism stemming from his attempt to destroy a commercial aircraft in-flight by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes...
, known as the Shoe Bomber, spent time at Bludeston for a lesser charge in the 1990s - Michael CarrollMichael Carroll (lottery winner)Michael Carroll , born in Swaffham, Norfolk, UK, is a former binman who won £9.7 million on the National Lottery in November 2002, aged 19. His biography written by Sean Boru, entitled Careful What You Wish For , was published by John Blake Publishing in October 2006...
, lottery winner and self-proclaimed 'King of Chavs' spent two years at Blundeston between 2002-2006 for drugs offences - Reggie Kray
- Harry RobertsHarry RobertsHarry Roberts may refer to:*Harry Roberts , Australian film actor of the early 1900s*Harry Roberts , England international football forward*Harry Roberts , English football fullback...