Sue McAllister CB was the Director General of the

Northern Ireland Prison Service The Northern Ireland Prison Service is an executive agency of the Department of Justice, the headquarters of which are in Dundonald House in the Stormont Estate in Belfast. Background It was established as an agency on 1 April 1995. Agency ...

between 2012 and 2016. She was the first woman to hold the post. Prior to this, she was Governor of

HM Prison Gartree HM Prison Gartree is a Category B men's prison, located in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England. Gartree is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Constructed on the western part of the site which was previously RAF Market Harbo ...

and

HM Prison Onley HM Prison Onley is a Category C men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison is named after the lost village of Onley, which is located next to the prison. Onley Prison is in the county of Northamptonshire close to its b ...

Career

Originally from

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, Sue McAllister joined

Her 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 ...

in England and Wales and worked for the service for 25 years. This included roles as the Governor of both

, an adult prison, and

, a young offender institutions. McAllister was involved in the review team who investigated the suicide of Colin Bell, an offender under the care of the

HM Prison Maghaberry HMP Maghaberry was built on the site of RAF Maghaberry, a World War II airfield near Lisburn, 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 ...

in 2008. The report was highly critical of the way in which his case was managed. She then worked in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

as head of the Public Sector Bids Unit until she retired in 2012. She was announced in May 2012 as the new head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the first time a woman was named to this post, or a similar post elsewhere in the UK. McAllister replaced Colin McConnell, who had become head of the Scottish Prison Service. She took over the post in July 2012. In August 2016, she announced that she would be resigning from the post in October that year in order to retire. McAllister was named a Companion of the Bath in Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's 2017 New Years honours for services to the Northern Ireland Prison Service. She was announced as the interim Chief Inspector of Probation in September 2023. She commenced her role at HM Inspectorate of Probation on 1 October 2023.

Personal life

McAllister is married to Danny McAllister CBE with two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAllister, Sue Living people People from Grimethorpe British prison governors British prison officials Year of birth missing (living people)