HM Prison Standford Hill (Sheppey Cluster) is a Category D 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 close to the village of

Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation history Eastchu ...

on the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...

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 ...

. Standford Hill forms part of the Sheppey prisons cluster, which also includes

HMP Elmley HM Prison Elmley is a local Category B/C men's prison, located close to the village of Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. The term 'local' means that this prison holds people on remand to the local courts. Elmley once formed part of the ...

and HMP Swaleside. 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

Standford Hill was opened on the site of an ex

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

station, and was first used as a prison in 1950. The complex has been redeveloped since then, and the current buildings on the site date from 1986. In December 2004, an inspection report from

Her 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 insp ...

stated that Standford Hill was not effective as a resettlement prison, and did not offer inmates worthwhile skills. The report also criticised the activities offered to prisoners. However inspectors did find "'significant' progress had been made in safety and respect" at the prison. Another inspection took place in December 2011 which found that outcomes were reasonable in most areas, yet there were still some significant areas of concern. The range of activities available was now considered to be good, but resettlement work was fragmented. In January 2013 three inmates escaped from the prison. A further two prisoners absconded in June 2014. Another prisoner escaped in August 2014.

The prison today

Standford Hill is a Category D

open prison An open prison (open jail) is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment w ...

for adult males serving any sentence, with a maximum of 5 years to their release, and a maximum of 2 years to their parole eligibility date. The prison offers employment for inmates through its workshop, works, and

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 ...

departments, and also offers full and part-time education classes.

Notable former inmates

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 ...

Jim Devine James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Member of Parliament. He was the Labour Party member for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, following the 2009 expenses ...

* Baron Taylor of Warwick * Stephen Jackley *

Kenneth Noye Kenneth James Noye (born 24 May 1947) is an English criminal most recently sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Stephen Cameron in a road rage incident while on licence from prison in 1996. He was arrested in Spain two years later and c ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Standford Hill
{{Prisons in South East England Standford Hill Standford Hill Standford Hill Stanford Hill Standford Hill