His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a
Category-A men's prison in
Thamesmead
Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consi ...
,
south-east London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds there is a unique unit called the High Security Unit (HSU) which is a 48 single-cell unit regarded as the most secure prison unit in the United Kingdom. It is run by His Majesty's Prison Service.
History
Belmarsh Prison was built on part of the East site of the former
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...
in
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
, and became operational on 2 April 1991. It is adjacent to and adjoins
Woolwich Crown Court
Woolwich Crown Court, or more accurately the Crown Court at Woolwich, is located at 2 Belmarsh Road, Thamesmead is one of twelve Crown Court centres serving Greater London.
It is adjacent to both HM Prison Belmarsh and Belmarsh Magistrates' C ...
.
Between 2001 and 2002, Belmarsh Prison was used to detain a number of people indefinitely without charge or trial under the provisions of the
Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, leading it to be called the "British version of
Guantanamo Bay". The
law lords
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
later ruled in ''
A v Secretary of State for the Home Dept'' that such imprisonment was discriminatory and against the
Human Rights Act.
It is often used for the detention of prisoners for terrorist related offences. In September 2006, the number of such prisoners was 51.
In May 2007, there was a violent disturbance in the prison,
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
reported. At least four prison officers were injured.
In 2009, an archaeological dig on site led to the discovery of a 6,000-year-old trackway in the prison, the second oldest known wooden trackway in Northern Europe after the
Sweet Track
The Sweet Track is an ancient trackway, or causeway, in the Somerset Levels, England, named after its finder, Ray Sweet. It was built in 3807 BC (determined using dendrochronology) and is the second-oldest timber trackway discovered in the ...
near
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
.
In November 2009, an inspection report from the
Chief Inspector of Prisons
His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales. The current chief inspe ...
criticised the "extremely high" amount of force used to control inmates at the prison. The report also stated that an unusually high number of prisoners had reported being intimidated or victimised by staff at Belmarsh.
In 2010,
HMP Isis
HM Prison Isis is a Category C male Young Offenders Institution, located in the Thamesmead area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in south-east London, England. Isis Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is situated next to Be ...
Young Offenders Institution
His Majesty's Young Offender Institution (or HMYOI) is a type of prison in Great Britain, intended for offenders aged up to 18, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders. Typically t ...
was opened within the perimeter wall of Belmarsh Prison.
The prison today
![HMP Belmarsh, from carpark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/HMP_Belmarsh%2C_from_carpark.jpg)
Belmarsh is a Category A Prison holding prisoners from all over the United Kingdom. In addition, Belmarsh is a local prison accepting different categories of prisoners from primarily the Central Criminal Court (
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
) and Magistrates' Courts in South East London. It also serves Crown and Magistrates' Courts in South West Essex. Accommodation at the prison is a mixture of approximately 60% multi-occupancy cells and 40% single cells, distributed mainly across four residential units.
Inmates at Belmarsh are offered access to education, workshops and two gyms. One gym focuses on
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
courses and the other gym focuses on recreation, with use of a sports hall and a fitness room. The gym staff have a partnership with
Charlton Athletic F.C. to deliver
FA accredited coaching courses for prisoners.
A listener scheme for prisoners at risk from suicide or self-harm is in operation at Belmarsh. There is also a support group for foreign national prisoners, providing advice on immigration law.
Notable inmates
Current inmates
*
Michael Adebolajo
On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, a British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. ...
, man who murdered British soldier Lee Rigby
*
Ali Harbi Ali, murdered MP
David Amess
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
*
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, accused by the United States of espionage. Held here since 2019 and could be extradited to the US.
*
Paul 'Des' Ballard
Paul Ballard (born 9 March 1982 in Essex, England) is an English television presenter and stage actor best known by his nickname 'Des' as the co-presenter, along with Fearne Cotton, of the Saturday morning children's television programme ' ...
, television presenter, caused death by dangerous driving, and various other crimes including rape
*
David Copeland
The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated respectively in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfiel ...
, neo-Nazi who bombed a gay pub, Brixton Market and Brick Lane
*Jan Goodey Protested against fossil fuel industry expansion and caused 3 mile queues on the M25. The first protester to be sentenced under 2022 anti-protest law
Section 78 of the PCSC Act
*
Delroy Grant
Delroy Easton Grant Junior (born 3 September 1957) is a Jamaican-born British convicted serial rapist who carried out a series of offences of burglary, rape and sexual assault between October 1992 and May 2009 in the South East London area of E ...
, the "Night Stalker", a serial rapist and burglar, with perhaps over 100 offences
*
Danyal Hussein
Bibaa Henry (aged 46) and Nicole Smallman (aged 27) were two sisters who were stabbed to death by Danyal Hussein in Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury, north-west London, England, on 6 June 2020.
The reporting and investigation of their killi ...
, murdered two sisters in a London park
*
Stephen Port, the "Grindr Killer", multiple rapist, murderer of four men
*
Khairi Saadallah
On 20 June 2020, shortly before 19:00 BST, a man with a knife attacked people who were socializing in Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Three men died from their wounds, and three other people were seriously injured. A 25-ye ...
, stabbed three people to death in a Reading park, seriously injured others
Former inmates
*
Hashem Abedi (moved to
HM Prison Frankland)
*
Michael Adebowale
On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, a British Army soldier, Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London ...
(moved to
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...
)
*
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى كامل مصطفى; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park ...
(sentenced to life imprisonment in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Incarcerated at
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...
)
*
Sudesh Amman
*
Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...
*
Ronnie Biggs
Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was an English criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 ye ...
*
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and war ...
*
Anjem Choudary
*
Richard Huckle
Richard William Huckle (14 May 1986 – 13 October 2019) was an English serial child sex offender. He was arrested by Britain's National Crime Agency in 2014 after a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police and convicted in 2016 of 71 charge ...
(later moved to
HM Prison Full Sutton
HM Prison Full Sutton is a Category A and B men's prison in the village of Full Sutton, near Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Full Sutton is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and held some 596 inmates, as of Sept ...
, where he was murdered)
*
Ian Huntley
The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident an ...
(moved to HM Prison Frankland in 2008)
*
Usman Khan
*
Denis MacShane
Denis MacShane (born Josef Denis Matyjaszek; 21 May 1948) is a British former politician, author and commentator who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and has held most party offices. ...
*
Thomas Mair (moved to HM Prison Frankland)
*
Darren Osborne
Darren Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. He was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family, making his first screen appearance on 18 November 1996, portrayed ...
, murdered one person and attempted murder of others by driving into them (moved to HM Prison Full Sutton)
*
Maurice Robinson (moved to
HM Prison Lowdham Grange
HM Prison Lowdham Grange is a Category B men's private prison, located in the village of Lowdham (near Nottingham) in Nottinghamshire, England. The prison is currently operated by Serco. In August 2022, it was announced that following competit ...
)
*
Tommy Robinson
*
Richard Tomlinson
Richard John Charles Tomlinson (born 13 January 1963) is a former officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He argued that he was subjected to unfair dismissal from MI6 in 1995, and attempted to take his former employer to a ...
*
John Worboys
John Derek Radford (formerly John Worboys; born June 1957) is a British convicted sex offender, known as the Black Cab Rapist. Worboys was convicted in 2009 for attacks on 12 women. Police say he may have had more than 100 victims.
Early life
Bo ...
(moved to
HM Prison Wakefield
His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, 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" du ...
)
*
Wayne Couzens
Wayne may refer to:
People with the given name and surname
* Wayne (given name)
* Wayne (surname)
Geographical
Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...
(moved to
HM Prison Frankland)
*
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving unt ...
1999: Liar Aitken jailed for 18 months
''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...