HM Prison Wakefield is located in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It was originally built as a house of correction in 1594, and is now the largest maximum security prison in the United Kingdom. The current building was built in Victorian times.
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The prison and its population
The prison is home to apporximately 600 of Britain's most dangerous men (mainly sex offenders and prisoners serving life sentences for violent crimes against women and children). Because of this, the prison is popularly referred to by the tabloid press as "Monster Mansion". The current governor is David R. Thompson, director-general elect of the Prison Service.
Notable Inmates
Well-known prisoners currently being detained at the maximum security jail include:
- Russell Bishop
- Robert Black
- Charles Bronson[1]
- Sidney Cooke
- Lee Gaytor
- Mark Hobson
- Ian Huntley[2]
- Antoni Imiela
- Ronald Jebson
- Carl Manning[3]
- Robert Maudsley
- Aaron Nicholls
- Michael Sams
Serial killer Harold Shipman committed suicide at Wakefield Prison in 2004. (Shipman had been on round-the-clock suicide watch at two previous prisons, but such 'special measures' had not been deemed necessary after his transferral to Wakefield [4].) Child murderer Roy Whiting was also held at Wakefield until he was attacked by another inmate in 2002 [5], after which he was transferred elsewhere. Wakefield Prison runs sex offender treatment courses in an attempt to help prisoners control their sexual urges upon release, but participation in these offending behaviour programmes is poor as most of the inmates deny or minimise their crimes.
"Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush"
The Prison yard at Wakefield Prison has a Mulberry tree around which female inmates used to exercise. This has been linked to the nursery rhyme 'Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush' by the erstwhile prison governor, RS Duncan in his book 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' The House of Correction 1595 / HM Prison Wakefield 1995 (published by author 1994). This origin of the song is also propounded on the Prison's website [6], though it is not known whether this is a correct origin or not.
Related Events
A senior prison officer at Wakefield, John David Hall, was convicted of kidnapping and raping four women and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2006.[7]
References
- ^ Judge praises Bronson, but rules he must stay in jail The Telegraph
- ^ Soham killer treated for overdose BBC News
- ^ Inquiry to hear from Victoria's killer The Guardian
- ^ Shipman suicide 'not preventable' BBC News
- ^ Man guilty of Sarah killer attack BBC News
- ^ The story of Wakefield Prison & the origin of a nursery rhyme
- ^ Prison officer sentenced to 12 life terms for rapes and sex attacks The Scotsman
