His Majesty's Prison Aylesbury is a category C training prison situated in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

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 ...

. It is located on the north side of the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

centre, on

Bierton Bierton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about half a mile northeast of the town of Aylesbury. It is mainly a farming parish. Together with the hamlets of Broughton, Aylesbury, Broughton, ...

Road and is operated by

His Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and ...

History

There has been a prison or gaol of some description in Aylesbury since 1810. The current prison has been on its present site since 1847. It is of early

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

design and was modelled on Reading County Gaol, The site was in an area of public buildings that also included the

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

(formerly the

Tindal Centre The Tindal Centre (formerly Tindal Hospital) was a centre for the treatment of mental disorders in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. It was managed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The facility had its origins in a workhouse infi ...

) and the Manor House Hospital. Since construction, the prison has gone through a variety of changes, starting as a county gaol, then became an adult women's prison in 1890, changing to a girls' borstal in the 1930s, and between 1959 and 1961 was an adult male prison, after which it became a male ''YOI'', and since 1989 has held only male long-term prisoners.HMP Service - Prisons - HMYOI Aylesbury
Accessed 02/08/2012

Operation

In 1998 HMP Aylesbury was criticised after an inspection report highlighted its poor health regime, which saw the rapid turnover of five senior medical officers in two years. The report opened up a wider debate about the pay of medical staff in UK prisons compared to those in the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. In 2001 the

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

for HMP Aylesbury was suspended after allegations of inappropriate comments after the September 11 New York terror attacks. A year after this a study of prisoners' diets at Aylesbury (conducted by Surrey University) found that adding vitamins, minerals and other nutritional elements to the diets of prisoners 'remarkably' reduced their antisocial behaviour. HMP Aylesbury prison was back in the headlines in 2007 after it was revealed to have a higher rate of

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

by inmates than any other Young Offenders Institution in England Following the introduction of the Prison Service's ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork) system the rate of self-harm has reduced significantly. In December 2008, police officers and Prison Service 'Tornado Teams' were called in to contain a disturbance at Aylesbury Prison, officially described as a 'Concerted Indiscipline'. The incident lasted six hours, and involved a number of inmates who were taking part in Eid celebrations. A number of these were charged with 'Prison Mutiny'. In November 2009, a Prison Officer from HMYOI Aylesbury was jailed after it emerged that she had become pregnant after having a sexual relationship with an inmate. The Prison Officer was also convicted of smuggling three mobile phones into HMYOI Aylesbury.

The prison today

Aylesbury holds prisoners as cat C between the ages of 18 and 40. Accommodation comprises single cells in seven residential wings and one segregation unit. There are full and part-time education programmes at the prison, which range from basic and key skills courses up to

Art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, French and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

A Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

and

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. Vocational courses and work programmes include

Construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

Painting and Decorating A house painter and decorator is a tradesperson responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator, or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is t ...

Bricklaying Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

, Motor Vehicle

Mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

, Industrial and General

Cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for beauty, aesthetic, hygiene, hygienic, Function (engineering), function ...

Laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

Catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

Gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

and

Waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

. Young Offenders also have opportunities to pursue award-based courses including the

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

. In February 2013 HMP Aylesbury appeared in an ITV documentary focusing on the lives of inmates and officers. In July 2017 a serious violent incident took place involving many inmates and Prison Officers were injured some needing hospital treatment. In April 2018, a

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

occurred, hospitalising four Prison Officers. Prisoners were frustrated because they spent the whole week locked in their cells and only had one chance a week to shower.

Notable inmates

Former inmates

Women

* Violet Bland,

Suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

imprisoned and force-fed in 1912. She wrote of her experiences in ''Votes for Women''. *

Kitty Byron Emma "Kitty" Byron (1878 – after 1908) was a British murderess found guilty in 1902 of stabbing to death her lover Arthur Reginald Baker, for which crime she was sentenced to death. This was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. Bac ...

, convicted in 1902 of murdering her lover Arthur Reginald Baker, was released from Aylesbury in December 1908. * Edith Carew convicted in 1897 in the

British Court for Japan The British Court for Japan (formally Her Britannic Majesty's Court for Japan) was a court established in Yokohama in 1879 to try cases against British subjects in Japan, under the principles of extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals ...

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

for murdering by poisoning her husband, Walter Carew. Carew was transferred from Yokohama (via Hong Kong) in 1897 and released in 1910M Whitthington-Egan, Murder on the Bluff *

Mathilde Carré Mathilde Carré (30 June 1908 in Le Creusot, France – 30 May 2007), née Mathilde Lucie Bélard and known as "La Chatte" ("The Cat"), was a French Resistance agent during World War II who betrayed the Franco-Polish resistance organization ...

, a

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

agent during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who turned

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. Carré was held at Aylesbury for the last years of the war where she acted as an informant against other detainees. Carré was deported to France after the war ended. *

Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, and socialist who was the first woman ...

, first woman MP, commuted death sentence 1916 following the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

, released 1917. *

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabe ...

, a former

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

citizen who was imprisoned at Aylesbury for murdering her considerably older English husband. Maybrick was released in 1904. * Eileen Mackenney, author of "Borstal Girl" was an inmate from 1949 - 1951

Men

* Jade Braithwaite was at HMYOI Aylesbury for a time after being convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years. *Ryan Herbert was transferred to HMYOI Aylesbury from HMP Stoke Heath in 2012, he was convicted in 2008 of killing Sophie Lancaster and sentenced to 15 and a half years

References

External links

Ministry of Justice on HMYOI AylesburyHMYOI Aylesbury - HM Inspectorate of Prisons ReportsVictorian Prisoners Database
at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
History of Aylesbury Prison from theprison.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylesbury (Hm Prison) Young offender institutions in England Prisons in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury 1845 establishments in England