HM Prison Leyhill is a category D men's prison located in the parish of

Cromhall Cromhall is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is located between Bagstone and Charfield on the B4058, and also borders Leyhill. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 1,231. Location Cromhall is about from Falfie ...

in Gloucestershire, England. His Majesty's Prison Service operates Leyhill Prison.

History

Leyhill Prison was originally a United States

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

built for the

Second World War 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 ...

. The site was converted into a prison in 1946, with inmates originally housed in hutted accommodation. The prison was rebuilt in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and in 1986, prisoners were re-housed in new living accommodation. In 2002, new accommodation units were added to increase the prison's capacity. In a March 2002 report,

Her 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 ...

criticised Leyhill for failing to prepare inmates for release, stating that too little was being done to help inmates get ready for the pressures of life outside. The report also claimed that staff needed a clearer idea of their role at the prison. In May 2006, it was revealed that more than one inmate a week was absconding from Leyhill. Statistics showed that 66 prisoners had left Leyhill in the 2005/06 financial year. The Prison Service claimed the number of escapes was down to population pressures in the UK prison estate, with less trustworthy prisoners being transferred to open prisons like Leyhill.

The prison today

Leyhill is a prison for adult male prisoners of category D status, meaning that either a parole board or the Prison Service has deemed them suitable for open conditions. Leyhill was strongly criticised for failing to manage the risks posed by this population properly and not assisting enough with effective resettlement. Leyhill runs a variety of courses designed to help prisoners prepare for release. These include a general

joinery Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives ...

woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...

shop (offering

City & Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has bee ...

qualifications in woodwork), a printing shop, a commercial laundry; industrial

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 ...

and car-valeting training,

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 ...

and

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

training, and

forklift truck A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

and

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

training. The prison's farms and gardens also provide work and training for prisoners on a 55-hectare estate, including extensive ornamental grounds. There is a nationally important

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

run in conjunction with the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

; it is often open to the public. As an open prison, several prisoners at Leyhill are placed in the community to complete work and training placements. These placements are designed to improve a prisoner's chance of successful resettlement in the community on release. In November 2016, three potentially violent prisoners absconded.

Notable inmates

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

footballers

Steve Brooker Stephen Michael Lord Brooker (born 21 May 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He scored 86 goals from 294 league and cup appearances in a 12-year professional career. He began his career with Watford in ...

Bradley Orr Bradley James Orr (born 1 November 1982) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Career Newcastle United & loans Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Orr started his senior career with Newcastl ...

and David Partridge spent their short prison sentences at Leyhill for their part in a nightclub brawl. *Elmore Davies, former head of drug squad

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police o ...

given 5 years for corruption. * Ali Dizaei, the former Metropolitan Police commander *

Charlie Elphicke Charles Brett Anthony Elphicke (born 14 March 1971) is a British former politician and a convicted sex offender. As a member of the Conservative Party and later an independent, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover from 2010 to 20 ...

, former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP who was jailed for sexual assault. He was released in 2021. *

Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor who played "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germany, West German ...

, served the final part of a sentence for murder at Leyhill before being released in 1977 and going on to land himself numerous roles as a TV actor, most notably as

Den Watts Den Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house from Albert ...

in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' *

Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul Huhne (born 2 July 1954) is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh ...

, former cabinet minister and

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

MP for Eastleigh, jailed for perverting the course of justice *

Patrick Mackay David Groves, better known by his birth name Patrick David Mackay (born 25 September 1952), is a British serial killer who is believed to be one of the United Kingdom's most prolific serial murderers. He was convicted of three counts of ...

, serial killer. * Luke McCormick, former

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

captain and England youth goalkeeper, served seven years and four months for two counts of death by dangerous driving and one count of driving/attempting to drive whilst exceeding the prescribed limit (Road Traffic Act 1988) which resulted in the deaths of 10-year-old Aaron Peak and 8-year-old Ben Peak. He was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. *

T. Dan Smith Thomas Daniel Smith (11 May 1915 – 27 July 1993), also known by his nickname “Mr Newcastle”,"Southern Discomfort" (leading article), ''The Times'', 3 August 1993. was a high-profile British Labour Party politician who served as chairman o ...

, the Newcastle politician disgraced by the Poulson affair (it was Smith who encouraged Grantham to go into acting on his release) *

Fred West Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer, who committed at least twelve murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, England—the majority with his second wife, Rose West. The vi ...

, serial killer imprisoned for petty theft from 1970 to 1971

Film and television links

* ''

Greenfingers ''Greenfingers'' is a 2000 British comedy film directed and written by Joel Hershman. It is loosely based on the true story about the award-winning prisoners of HMP Leyhill, a minimum-security prison in the Cotswolds, England, a story publis ...

'', a 2000 film is loosely based on the story about prisoners from Leyhill and their award-winning entries into the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show,Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural So ...

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Leyhill
{{Prisons in South West England Leyhill Leyhill Buildings and structures in South Gloucestershire District 1946 establishments in England Leyhill