HM Prison Rochester (formerly known as Borstal Prison) is a male

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 ...

, founded in 1870, and located in the

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 ...

area of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

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 Service, and is located next to HMP Cookham Wood.

History

19th Century

HMP Rochester was founded in 1870 as Borstal Prison, which was a large convict prison. Borstal Prison was then an experimental juvenile prison of the reformatory type set up in 1902. Because it was the first detention centre of its kind in the UK, the word "

" became synonymous with other detention centres for youths across the country, and elsewhere.

20th Century

The institution remained as a Borstal school until 1983, when it was converted into a Youth Custody Centre and renamed 'Rochester'. In 1988, the prison changed its role to operate as a remand centre for the Kent courts and sentenced category C and D adult males. Rochester then became a mixed site prison for immigration detainees and a resettlement unit for adult male prisoners. The prison also operated as a remand and allocation centre for males under the age of 21.

21st Century

In January 2002, Rochester re-rolled to a prison solely for sentenced young men up to the age of 21. In March 2003, Rochester Prison was criticised by its own

Board of Visitors In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual ...

. The Board stated that there were few useful employment or educational opportunities for inmates, and so therefore they had few chances to gain qualifications or work experience. In August 2006, an inspection report from

His Majesty's 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 ...

declared that Rochester Prison was improving, but still had a number of unresolved issues. Inspectors found that HMP Rochester was generally safe, and had good staff-prisoner relations. However the prison was called on to do more to provide work for inmates, and to do more to combat bullying. In March 2007, it was announced that the capacity of Rochester Prison was to be doubled to 700. This drew severe opposition from local residents. Construction had briefly begun in March 2007, but was on hold pending permission from

Medway council Medway Council is the local authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Med ...

, the local planning authority. This was granted, and in September 2008 a further four accommodation units were constructed at the site.

The prison today

Rochester holds convicted, sentenced adults serving less than four years. Accommodation at the prison comprises a mixture of single- and double-accommodation cells. The prison offers offending behaviour courses, education, drug rehabilitation,

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

-based work placements, weekend and evening association with access to

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

- and sports-related activities. Various

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

-based courses are also available to inmates.

Notable former inmates

Michael Boateng Michael Kwame Adusei Boateng (born 17 August 1991) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a right back. In June 2014, Boateng was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment for his part in an attempted match-fixing fra ...

, former professional footballer jailed for conspiracy to defraud as part of an investigation into match-fixing. Boateng has co-presented on a podcast called Banged Up talking about his time in Rochester.

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Rochester
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester (HM Prison) Young Offender Institutions in England Prisons in Kent 1874 establishments in England