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Verne (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
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 prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, located in the Verne Citadel
Verne Citadel
Verne Citadel is a citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The citadel was started in 1847 at a camp for prisoners building Portland harbour's breakwaters, and was extended during the 1860s as a result of the Royal Commission, ending up with 8 RML guns with calibres up to 12". It is now...
(in Tophill
Tophill
Tophill is a gently sloping area of land on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. Rising from sea level at Portland Bill to near The Verne at its northern end, Tophill contains the villages of Easton, Weston, Southwell, the Grove and Wakeham....
) on the Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, 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 Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
History
The Verne Prison opened in 1949 on the site of a former military barracks dating from the end of the nineteenth century. In 1847 a start was made on temporary prison buildings known as The Verne Citadel for prisoners building the Prison Breakwater. The first sixty-four prisoners were landed on 24 November 1848 at Castletown from HM Steamer Driver. The Verne Citadel was designated by Captain W Crossman of the Royal Engineers and enclosed an area of fifty-six acres. A full workforce of one hundred and eighty prisoners laid three million convict-made bricks in two years.In 1955, an inmate called John Hannan escaped
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
from The Verne using knotted sheets to scale the prison wall. Hannan continued to evade capture for many years, so that by 2001, he entered the record books as having been on the run longer than any other prisoner in the world.
In August 2004, a convicted burglar escaped from The Verne Prison in a laundry van to visit his sick mother. The inmate used the metal edge of a lighter to cut his way through the canvas of a prison service lorry, and then caught a taxi to see his mother. The convict subsequently gave himself up to police 2 days later.
In November 2005, an inspection report from 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...
criticised The Verne for weaknesses in its anti-bullying and suicide prevention policies. The report stated that safety at the prison had "deteriorated significantly" since its last inspection, and that the needs of foreign national
Foreign national
Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada...
prisoners were not being met. However the report said that the prison had made progress in improving its training provision for inmates, and work to prepare prisoners for release had also improved.
The prison today
The Verne is a Category C prison for adult males. The population consists of life sentence prisoners and determinate sentenced prisoners, many serving four years or over. About sixty per cent of the prisoners are foreign nationals, with over fifty different nationalities represented.Education and training at the prison are outsourced to four contractors. Education is offered on a Part-time only basis. An Information Advice and Guidance centre is open to prisoners, and Job Centre Plus operates from the prison twice a month. Other facilities include a community centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
for prisoners, a shop
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and a gymnasium
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
. There is no staffed Visitors Centre at Verne Prison, but there is a waiting room with toilets and vending machines. A canteen and children's play area are also available.