HM Prison East Sutton Park is a women's

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' ( ...

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, corre ...

and young offender's institute located in the Parish of

East Sutton East Sutton is a parish approximately 6 miles south-east of Maidstone in Kent, England. East Sutton is small in number of dwellings but relatively large in area: the parish has a women's prison, a council estate of 16 houses and the Grade I liste ...

, near

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

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 & Probation Service.

History

East Sutton Park Prison is based in and around an Elizabethan brick house, East Sutton Park, dating from 1570 and overlooking

the Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

of Kent. The building was requisitioned at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, first opened as a

borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...

in 1946, then was re-registered to take juvenile and adult females some years later. In 2016 a report by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons found "East Sutton Park to be an excellent prison where the very strong staff-prisoner relationships underpinned safety and a respectful and purposeful approach to preparing women for release. Violence of any kind was extremely rare and the tensions related to communal living were usually resolved through informal mediation rather than formal disciplinary processes".

The prison today

Accommodation at the prison is divided into 66 rooms of varying sizes. Work at the prison for inmates includes farm work,

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, meat processing and

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

. East Sutton Park also offers training courses and

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 explorat ...

. Approximately half the prison population work in the community.

Notable former inmates

Jane Andrews Jane Dawn Elizabeth Andrews (born 1 April 1967) is an English former royal dresser for Sarah, Duchess of York, who was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2001 of murdering her lover, Tom Cressman. She was released from prison in 2015. Early life A ...

* Bachan Kaur Athwal, would have been held at East Sutton Park or the only other open prison for women in England,

HM Prison Askham Grange HM Prison Askham Grange is a women's open category prison, located in Askham Richard village in North Yorkshire, England. The prison is run by His Majesty's Prison Service. History H.M. Prison Askham Grange was opened in January 1947 as a wo ...

, in preperation for her release in June 2022 *

Linda Calvey Linda Calvey (born Linda E P Welford, 8 April 1948 in Ilford, Essex, England) is an English murderer, author and former armed robber, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her lover Ronnie Cook. She was known as the "Black Wi ...

Vicky Pryce Vasiliki "Vicky" Pryce (' Kourmouzi ( el, Βασιλική Κουρμούζη); born 15 July 1952) is a Greek-born British economist and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service. She is currently the Chief Econom ...

Dena Thompson Dena Thompson (born 1960), commonly known as The Black Widow, is a convicted murderer, confidence trickster and bigamist. She habitually met men through lonely hearts columns and stole their money. She is currently in prison for murdering for ...

, murderer and serial fraudster who is also suspected of having more victims, held at either East Sutton Park or HM Prison Askham Grange (the only other open prison for women in England) before her release in June 2022 *

Sarah Tisdall Sarah Caroline Tisdall (born 1960 in Plymouth) is a former Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) clerical officer who was jailed for leaking British government documents to a newspaper in 1983. Tisdall anonymously sent ''The Guardian'' photocopi ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on East Sutton Park

HMP East Sutton Park - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Authority control East Sutton Park East Sutton Park East Sutton Park East Sutton Park