His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category-A men's prison in

Thamesmead Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consi ...

south-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds there is a unique unit called the High Security Unit (HSU) which is a 48 single-cell unit regarded as the most secure prison unit in the United Kingdom. It is run by His Majesty's Prison Service.

History

Belmarsh Prison was built on part of the East site of the former

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, and became operational on 2 April 1991. It is adjacent to and adjoins

Woolwich Crown Court Woolwich Crown Court, or more accurately the Crown Court at Woolwich, is located at 2 Belmarsh Road, Thamesmead is one of twelve Crown Court centres serving Greater London. It is adjacent to both HM Prison Belmarsh and Belmarsh Magistrates' Court ...

. Between 2001 and 2002, Belmarsh Prison was used to detain a number of people indefinitely without charge or trial under the provisions of the Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, leading it to be called the "British version of Guantanamo Bay". The law lords later ruled in ''

A v Secretary of State for the Home Dept ''A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department'/nowiki> UKHL 56] (also known as the ''Belmarsh 9'' case) is a UK human rights case heard before the House of Lords. It held that the indefinite detention of foreign prisoners in Belm ...

'' that such imprisonment was discriminatory and against the Human Rights Act 1998, Human Rights Act. It is often used for the detention of prisoners for terrorist related offences. In September 2006, the number of such prisoners was 51. In May 2007, there was a violent disturbance in the prison,

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

reported. At least four prison officers were injured. In 2009, an archaeological dig on site led to the discovery of a 6,000-year-old trackway in the prison, the second oldest known wooden trackway in Northern Europe after the Sweet Track near

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

. In November 2009, an inspection report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised the "extremely high" amount of force used to control inmates at the prison. The report also stated that an unusually high number of prisoners had reported being intimidated or victimised by staff at Belmarsh. In 2010, HMP Isis Young Offenders Institution was opened within the perimeter wall of Belmarsh Prison.

The prison today

Belmarsh is a Category A Prison holding prisoners from all over the United Kingdom. In addition, Belmarsh is a local prison accepting different categories of prisoners from primarily the Central Criminal Court (

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

) and Magistrates' Courts in South East London. It also serves Crown and Magistrates' Courts in South West Essex. Accommodation at the prison is a mixture of approximately 60% multi-occupancy cells and 40% single cells, distributed mainly across four residential units. Inmates at Belmarsh are offered access to education, workshops and two gyms. One gym focuses on

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 ...

courses and the other gym focuses on recreation, with use of a sports hall and a fitness room. The gym staff have a partnership with

Charlton Athletic F.C. Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

to deliver FA accredited coaching courses for prisoners. A listener scheme for prisoners at risk from suicide or self-harm is in operation at Belmarsh. There is also a support group for foreign national prisoners, providing advice on immigration law.

Notable inmates

Current inmates

* Michael Adebolajo, man who murdered British soldier Lee Rigby * Ali Harbi Ali, murdered MP David Amess *

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army int ...

, accused by the United States of espionage. Held here since 2019 and could be extradited to the US. * Paul 'Des' Ballard, television presenter, caused death by dangerous driving, and various other crimes including rape * David Copeland, neo-Nazi who bombed a gay pub, Brixton Market and Brick Lane *Jan Goodey Protested against fossil fuel industry expansion and caused 3 mile queues on the M25. The first protester to be sentenced under 2022 anti-protest law
Section 78 of the PCSC Act
* Delroy Grant, the "Night Stalker", a serial rapist and burglar, with perhaps over 100 offences * Danyal Hussein, murdered two sisters in a London park *

Stephen Port Stephen Port (born 22 February 1975) is a British convicted serial rapist and serial killer. He is responsible for the murder of four men and for committing multiple rapes. Port received a life sentence with a whole life order on 25 November 20 ...

, the "Grindr Killer", multiple rapist, murderer of four men * Khairi Saadallah, stabbed three people to death in a Reading park, seriously injured others

Former inmates

* Hashem Abedi (moved to

HM Prison Frankland HM Prison Frankland is a Category A men's prison located in the village of Brasside in County Durham, England. Frankland is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Frankland was originally opened in 1980 with four wings each holding ...

) * Michael Adebowale (moved to

Broadmoor Hospital Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secur ...

) * Abu Hamza al-Masri (sentenced to life imprisonment in the

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. Incarcerated at ADX Florence) * Sudesh Amman * Jeffrey Archer * Ronnie Biggs *

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and wa ...

Anjem Choudary Anjem Choudary (, aka Abu Luqman; born 18 January 1967) is a Pakistani-British Islamist and a social and political activist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. Members ...

* Richard Huckle (later moved to HM Prison Full Sutton, where he was murdered) * Ian Huntley (moved to HM Prison Frankland in 2008) * Usman Khan * Denis MacShane * Thomas Mair (moved to HM Prison Frankland) * Darren Osborne, murdered one person and attempted murder of others by driving into them (moved to HM Prison Full Sutton) * Maurice Robinson (moved to

HM Prison Lowdham Grange HM Prison Lowdham Grange is a Category B men's private prison, located in the village of Lowdham (near Nottingham) in Nottinghamshire, England. The prison is currently operated by Serco. In August 2022, it was announced that following competit ...

) * Tommy Robinson * Richard Tomlinson * John Worboys (moved to

HM Prison Wakefield His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Category A men's prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk ...

) *

Wayne Couzens Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anthon ...

(moved to

) *

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 u ...

1999: Liar Aitken jailed for 18 months
'' BBC''

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on HMP Belmarsh

HMP Belmarsh – HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belmarsh (Hm Prison) Men's prisons 1991 establishments in England