HMP Maghaberry was built on the site of RAF Maghaberry, a
World War II airfield near
Lisburn
Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...
,
Northern Ireland, which was used as a flying station by the
Royal Air Force and also as a transit airfield for the
United States Army Air Forces. At the end of the war, the airfield was run down and bought back from the Air Ministry in 1957 by Edward Thomas Boyes who then farmed the old airfield with his sons until the
Northern Ireland Office began work on the
prison in 1976.
Mourne House, which held all female prisoners, young offenders, and
remands, was the first part of the new prison to be opened in March 1986. This followed the closure of the existing
women's prison
This article discusses the incarceration of women in correctional facilities. As of 2013 across the world, 625,000 women and children were being held in penal institutions, and the female prison population was increasing in all continents. at
HMP Armagh. The male prison became fully operational on 2 November 1987. Following the closure of
HMP Belfast on 31 March 1996, Maghaberry became the adult
committal
In law, a committal procedure is the process by which a defendant is charged with a serious offence under the criminal justice systems of all common law jurisdictions except the United States. The committal procedure, sometimes known as a prelim ...
prison in Northern Ireland. Two new accommodation blocks were opened in 1999.
In 2003, the Steele report recommended options to make Maghaberry safe – including "a degree of separation" for
Irish republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
and
Ulster loyalist inmates.
Maghaberry is currently a modern high-security prison, which houses adult male long-term sentenced and remand prisoners, in both separated and integrated conditions. The prison holds 970 prisoners in single and double cell accommodation.
In February 2016, a prison inspection report by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice condemned HMP Maghaberry as being unsafe and unstable and in operation without a correct insurance policy due to an ongoing land dispute over ownership citing suicides as well as clashes between inmates and prison staff.
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons in England and Wales
Nick Hardwick described the prison as "one of the worst prisons I've ever seen and the most dangerous prison I've been to"
Notable Prisoners
*
Colin Howell
Colin Howell (born 14 March 1959) is a Northern Irish convicted double murderer. The murders and surrounding story were the subject of an ITV drama series '' The Secret'', broadcast in April and May 2016.
Howell killed his wife Lesley (née Cla ...
*
Michael Stone
*
Robert Black
References
External links
Northern Ireland Prison Service official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maghaberry (Hm Prison)
1976 establishments in Northern Ireland
Prisons in Northern Ireland
Immigration detention centres and prisons in the United Kingdom