HM Prison Highpoint North (formerly called Highpoint Prison and Edmunds Hill Prison) is a Category C men's

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, located in the village of Stradishall (near Haverhill) in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The prison 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 Wal ...

History

The site of Highpoint North Prison opened in 1938 as an

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

base. On its closure in 1970, the RAF base was briefly converted into a transit camp for

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. The prison opened in 1977 as Highpoint Prison. In 1997, the North part of Highpoint became a women's prison. On 3 October 2003, two years after the July 2001 separation of the North and South prisons, the North prison became HMP Edmunds Hill. The prison was then converted into a Category C Male establishment in January 2005. Moors Murderer

Myra Hindley The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...

had been imprisoned there for almost five years before she died in

West Suffolk Hospital West Suffolk Hospital is a small district general hospital in Bury St Edmunds, England. It is managed by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was built in a former Ordnance Depot in Hospital Road in Bury St Edmunds. It ...

on 15 November 2002, having been hospitalised as a result of a heart attack at Highpoint. In October 2006, 10 inmates rioted at the prison, damaging toilets and shower facilities. The riot started after the inmates were caught with home brew. Another home brew was involved in riots that occurred less than a year later, when inmates crafted a liquor from

Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vega ...

and fruit juice. In May 2007 a report from the Independent Monitoring Board criticised the prison for the neglect of foreign nationals and the treatment of mentally ill offenders at the prison. The report also raised concern that the prison had lacked a Muslim

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

for two years. The prison was renamed Highpoint North prison in 2011.

The prison today

The Category C men's prison has an

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

department, and work opportunities for inmates in Data Input, Contract

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 aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. ...

Garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, and

Catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and r ...

. Other facilities include a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ...

and prison chaplaincy. The prison complex consists of six buildings. Three of these are residential treatment units which combine to house 160 men. The remaining three house 67 men each. There is also a Prison Visitor Centre which is operated by the

Ormiston Children and Families Trust Ormiston Trust is a charitable trust based in London, England. It is a grant-making trust that chiefly assists schools and organisations supporting children and young people. The trust was established in the memory of Fiona Ormiston Murray who d ...

Notable former inmates

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

* Ali Dizaei *

Linda Calvey Linda Calvey (born Linda E P Welford, 8 April 1948 in Ilford, Essex, England) is an English murderer, author and former armed robber, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her lover Ronnie Cook. She was known as the "Black Wi ...

References

External links

pages on Highpoint North

HMP Highpoint - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Prisons in the East of England Highpoint North Prisons in Suffolk 2003 establishments in England Highpoint North Borough of St Edmundsbury