HM Prison Nottingham is a
Category B men's
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
, located in the
Sherwood
Sherwood may refer to:
Places Australia
*Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
*Sherwood, South Australia, a locality
*Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland
*Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...
area of
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The prison is operated by
His Majesty's Prison Service
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
.
History
The history of the prison stretches back to 1890, when it opened as a city
gaol
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
. Rebuilt in 1912, it became a closed training establishment for adult males, a role it continued until 1997. Since then, it has received prisoners from the courts of Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
as a category B local prison.
In 1999, the
Home Office announced that Nottingham Prison was to serve as a pilot project of a potentially national plan to track
paedophiles
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
and other high risk offenders after their release from their sentence by providing them housing in flats on prison sites. A dozen local residents staged protests in opposition.
In October 2004, a voluntary drug testing scheme established at Nottingham Prison was "hailed as a success". Participants in the scheme underwent intensive drug therapy, with prisoners who remained drug-free offered the opportunity of early release from their sentences.
In July 2004, the
Independent Monitoring Board published a report which called for the worn-out
Victorian wing of Nottingham Prison to be closed and urgently refurbished, as it "was becoming totally unsuitable for accommodating anybody – especially in winter when ...
emperatures in the building couldbe as cold as 10 °C". Soon after this the prison wing was closed down. In June 2008, it was announced that Nottingham would undergo major re-construction that would double the size of the prison. The £95 million facelift saw the condemned Victorian wing demolished and new accommodation and facilities built in its place.
The prison today
Nottingham is a Category B local prison, holding convicted and remand adult males from the local courts in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The prison provides education, workshop places and domestic duties to occupy inmates. Community projects at the prison include regular visits by local children with special needs.
Resettlement services at Nottingham offer advice on housing and debt management, as well as assistance with employment. There is also a Samaritans Listeners scheme for those prisoners who are considered to be at risk from
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
or
self-harm
Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...
. The Listeners scheme at HMP Nottingham is supported by listening volunteers from Nottingham Samaritans. Further information on the Samaritans Listeners scheme can be found here:
There is concern over large numbers of deaths among inmates. Notably 5 prisoners died over one month in autumn 2017, 4 believed to be by suicide. Deborah Coles of
Inquest
An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
said, "The fact these deaths occurred within days of arrival at the prison when prisoners are known to be most vulnerable, raise concerns about the processes for identifying and managing risk".
In January 2018
Peter Clarke, 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 ...
wrote an urgent notification letter to Justice Secretary
David Gauke
David Michael Gauke (; born 8 October 1971) is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. He served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, mo ...
, advising that three consecutive inspections had found the prison to be "fundamentally unsafe" and warning that there would be "further tragedies" unless safety measures were put in place. Clarke maintained three times in succession inspectors had found the prison, "fundamentally unsafe". Clarke also wrote, "Inspection findings at HMP Nottingham tell a story of dramatic decline since 2010." Clarke claimed, "irrefutable evidence" exists that there had been no response to findings from previous inspection and it was "extraordinary" there had failed to be a more "robust" response. Clarke claimed there were sufficient prison officers at Nottingham Prison but over half had less than a year's experience. He stated, "It appears that the problems at Nottingham are intractable and that staff there are unable to improve safety despite the fact that this failing increases the vulnerability both of those who are held in the prison and of those who work there."
There was yet another death in October 2018, the chief inspector of prisons described the prison as "dangerous" and "disrespectful". There have been eight suicides at Nottingham Prison since 2016. Peter Clarke suspects suicides might have happened because prisoners could not face life at the "drug-ridden jail" any longer.
Notable inmates
*
Ian Paterson – surgeon jailed for 15 years, later increased to 20 years by the Court of Appeal, in 2017 for wounding his patients with intent by performing unnecessary surgical procedures.
*Alex Belfield, former BBC Radio DJ and YouTuber who was sentenced to 5.5 years in Prison on four stalking offences on 16 September 2022.
References
{{Authority control
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
Buildings and structures in Nottingham
1890 establishments in England
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...