Doncaster (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
HM Prison Doncaster, is a Category B
men's private prison
, located in the Marshgate area of Doncaster
in South Yorkshire
, England
. The prison is operated by the Serco Group.
to Premier Prison Services Ltd, a joint venture between Serco and US company Wackenhut
Corrections. In 2005, Serco bought out Wackenhut and now runs the prison alone.
In 1999, the then Home Secretary
Jack Straw
was criticised for awarding Doncaster Prison a Charter Mark
, when it emerged that Doncaster had worst suicide record of any prison in England and Wales. Jack Straw defended his decision as an "unfortunate coincidence of timing".
In 2004, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
accused Serco of "institutional meanness" at Doncaster Prison, and described conditions there as "squalid". Four years later, an unannounced inspection of the prison found inmates sleeping in toilets because of overcrowding.
In 2006 Doncaster Prison appointed the UK's first black prison governor, former boxer Brian Anderson.
The prison provides education
– literacy
, numeracy
, information technology
and vocational skills - healthcare, drug and alcohol counselling, and offending behaviour courses. The prison is also a proponent of restorative justice
, running an arts and media programme.
Doncaster has links with the local community in order to reduce the chances of former prisoners re-offending. Schemes have been set up with local employers, landlords and other agencies to try to ensure ex-prisoners have a successful resettlement into the community. The prison also has links with a ‘halfway house’ in a nearby town where prisoners can live after release as they adjust to life beyond the prison wall.
The prison has been nicknamed "Doncatraz" by inmates and locals, in reference to the famous Alcatraz prison, in San Francisco Bay. The prison lies close to the River Don, and may seem to be on an 'island' from some locations.
Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
There are four prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom used to classify every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape....
men's private prison
Private prison
A private prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency...
, located in the Marshgate area of Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The prison is operated by the Serco Group.
History
Doncaster Prison was opened in 1994. Management of the prison was originally contracted out by the Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
to Premier Prison Services Ltd, a joint venture between Serco and US company Wackenhut
Wackenhut
G4S Secure Solutions is a private security company. It was founded as The Wackenhut Corporation in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners ....
Corrections. In 2005, Serco bought out Wackenhut and now runs the prison alone.
In 1999, the then Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
was criticised for awarding Doncaster Prison a Charter Mark
Charter Mark
The Customer Service Excellence, is an accreditation for organisations and an independent validation of achievement.-History:...
, when it emerged that Doncaster had worst suicide record of any prison in England and Wales. Jack Straw defended his decision as an "unfortunate coincidence of timing".
In 2004, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons
Her 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...
accused Serco of "institutional meanness" at Doncaster Prison, and described conditions there as "squalid". Four years later, an unannounced inspection of the prison found inmates sleeping in toilets because of overcrowding.
In 2006 Doncaster Prison appointed the UK's first black prison governor, former boxer Brian Anderson.
The prison today
Classified as a 'local remand' prison, Doncaster can hold 1,145 inmates as of August 2007, considerably more than its original design envisaged. Accommodation at the prison comprises three houseblocks, each houseblock has 4 wings and each wing can hold a maximum of 90 prisoners. The Health Care Centre has 29 beds for in-patients on one floor with a further 36 beds on the lower floor for enhanced workers.The prison provides education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
– literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
, numeracy
Numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life...
, information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and vocational skills - healthcare, drug and alcohol counselling, and offending behaviour courses. The prison is also a proponent of restorative justice
Restorative justice
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender...
, running an arts and media programme.
Doncaster has links with the local community in order to reduce the chances of former prisoners re-offending. Schemes have been set up with local employers, landlords and other agencies to try to ensure ex-prisoners have a successful resettlement into the community. The prison also has links with a ‘halfway house’ in a nearby town where prisoners can live after release as they adjust to life beyond the prison wall.
The prison has been nicknamed "Doncatraz" by inmates and locals, in reference to the famous Alcatraz prison, in San Francisco Bay. The prison lies close to the River Don, and may seem to be on an 'island' from some locations.
Notable former inmates
- Prince Naseem Hamed, former boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
world champion, jailed for driving dangerously. - Baron AhmedNazir Ahmed, Baron AhmedNazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed is a member of the House of Lords, having become the United Kingdom's first Muslim life peer in 1998. Many of his political activities relate to the Islamic community both in the UK and abroad, and he has often attracted controversy...
, a member of the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, jailed for driving dangerously.
Film and TV links
- During one episode of the Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
cookery show The F-WordThe F-WordThe F Word is a British food magazine and cooking show featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4...
in 2006, Gordon RamsayGordon RamsayGordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
cooked in Doncaster Prison for its inmates. He challenged prisoner Kieron Tarff to an onion-chopping race, which Ramsay lost. The chef was so impressed by Tarff that he offered him a job at his restaurant when he would be released in 2007.