HM Prison Altcourse is a Category B men's

private prison A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people are imprisoned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit pris ...

and

Young Offender Institution In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile dete ...

in the

Fazakerley Fazakerley is a suburb of north Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of the Liverpool Walton Parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 16,786. Description Fazakerley is in north Liverpool; neighbouring d ...

area of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The prison is operated by

Sodexo Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 522,000 employees as of 2023, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...

, which took over from

G4S G4S is a British multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in July 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a range of services, in ...

in 2023.

History

Altcourse became the first prison to be procured under a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

contract when the contract was signed in December 1995. It was built by Tarmac Construction and opened in December 1997. While early reports about the management of the prison were favourable, the financing of the project drew criticism after it emerged in 2002 that G4S, which oversaw construction and operated the prison, had made a £10 million windfall from the contracts. In 2005 it was reported that Altcourse was the most overcrowded prison in England with 1,324 inmates. In November 2009, the prison's own Independent Monitoring Board published a report which criticised the amount of illegal drugs that were being smuggled into Altcourse. The report suggested that mobile phones (which were also being smuggled into the jail) were helping to fuel the trade. A month later, it emerged that inmates at Altcourse were being given access to

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

as a reward for good behaviour.

The prison wings

Altcourse is separated into two main halves by facility buildings such as the segregation block, gymnasium, library, religious hall, education centre, and the first night centre. There are 7 main wings on the site, all named after fences of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

steeplechase course.

Notable inmates

Notable inmates include: *

Benjamin Mendy Benjamin Mendy (born 17 July 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Swiss Super League club Zürich. After coming through Le Havre's youth academy, Mendy began his playing career with the club's reserve team in 20 ...

, French international footballer playing for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, held on remand whilst awaiting trial accused of four counts of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and one count of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

at his home in Cheshire. * Thomas Waring, the man who assisted Connor Chapman, gunman from the Christmas Eve 2022

Wallasey pub shooting On the evening of 24 December 2022, one person was killed and five others were injured in a mass shooting at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Merseyside, England. The perpetrator, 22-year-old Connor Chapman, was sentenced to life imprisonment for ...

, by helping him dispose of a stolen car used during the shooting. * Mike Amesbury, MP for Runcorn and Helsby, was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for assaulting a man in October 2024

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on HMP Altcourse

Official site

HMP Altcourse - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altcourse (Hm Prison) G4S Prisons in Merseyside Buildings and structures in Liverpool Category B prisons in England Young offender institutions in England 1997 establishments in England Private prisons in the United Kingdom Men's prisons