HM Prison Cookham Wood is a male young persons' prison and

Young Offenders 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 det ...

in the village of

Borstal A borstal is a type of youth detention centre. Such a detention centre is more commonly known as a borstal school in India, where they remain in use today. Until the late 20th century, borstals were present in the United Kingdom, several mem ...

(near Rochester) in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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

His Majesty's Prison and probation Service His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...

. This prison has now been repurposed as an Adult Cat C prison. This article is out of date.

History

The prison was built in 1978, next to HMP Rochester and was named Cookham Wood

. The new prison was originally for young men, but its use was changed to meet the growing need for secure female accommodation at the time. In 1998 the prison started accepting female juvenile offenders (aged 12–14), and was refurbished for that purpose. The costs involved with the refurbishment and the new facilities provided at the prison led to the media branding Cookham Wood "Britain's most controversial jail". In a 2003 report the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community puni ...

criticised Cookham Wood for being one of the most overcrowded women's prison in the UK. The report also highlighted serious drug misuse amongst inmates at the prison. However, a 2005 report by

His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons His 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. The current chief inspe ...

commended the prison for improving standards. In 2007 the Prison Service announced that Cookham Wood would be converted to accept male young offenders. This was due to increased demand for places in men's prisons in the UK. Cookham Wood formally started taking male prisoners during 2008.

The prison today

Cookham Wood is a Young Persons establishment, holding males aged 15 to 18. Accommodation at the prison consists of single occupancy cells. All young people have access to showers, and 45 minutes outside in the open air every day. The prison operates a resettlement programme for young people coming to the end of their sentences, and has links to community groups and employers. In February 2014, the UK prison watchdog - the Independent Monitoring Boards - announced that they had serious concerns over the safety and decency for children at HMYOI Cookham Wood. The IMB 2022/23 IMB report highlighted the following concerns: * An inhumane length of time spent locked in cells– up to 22 hours a day. * Inconsistency and last-minute changes to the boys’ daily timetable due to a lack of available staff – a source of constant frustration for the boys. * Far too many boys were separated from others, a strategy used to “keep boys safe by keeping them apart”. This, in the IMB’s view, generates fearfulness and an expectation of violence amongst the boys. * Inadequate officer numbers to meet the boys’ needs. The prison is scheduled to be repurposed as an adult prison in August/September 2024 and will initially accommodate those jailed arising from the

2024 United Kingdom riots From 30 July to 5 August 2024, Far-right politics in the United Kingdom, far-right, anti-immigration protests and riots occurred in England and Northern Ireland, within the United Kingdom. This followed a 2024 Southport stabbing, mass stabbin ...

Notable former inmates

Myra Hindley The Moors murders were a series of child killings committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in and around Manchester, England, between July 1963 and October 1965. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesl ...

Judy Carne Joyce Audrey Botterill (27 April 1939 – 3 September 2015), known professionally as Judy Carne, was an English actress best remembered for the phrase "Sock it to me!" on ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Career Carne was born in Northampton, Eng ...

Sandra Gregory Sandra Gregory (born 1965) is a British teacher who was imprisoned for four years in Thailand after being caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Bangkok's Don Muang Airport. She was then transferred to a UK prison for three years, before being ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Cookham Wood

HMYOI Cookham Wood - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Women's prisons in England Cookham Wood 1978 establishments in England