Peterhead (HM Prison)
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HMP Peterhead
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Location |
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Status |
Operational |
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Capacity |
305 (February 2009) |
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Opened |
1880 |
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Managed by |
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Governor |
Michael Stoney |
HMP Peterhead is a prison in the town of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Peterhead convict prison was built around August 1888, and was designed to hold 208 prisoners. It was to be Scotland's only convictprison[1] Occupancy averaged at around 350 however, until peaking at 455 in 1911.[1] Additional buildings were completed in 1909, 1960 and 1962, bringing capacity up to 362.[1]
The first convicts were received at the prison in August 1888.
Until the opening of Peterhead Convict Prison, Scots convicts were transported to England to serve their sentences.
The prison supplied the labour force to work in Stirlinghill Quarry and in the Admiralty Yard attached to the prison. These convicts supported the work of a civilian labour force employed by the Admiralty to construct the Harbour of Refuge breakwater.
The Admiralty project was unique in Scotland, served by a unique railway line, the only state owned passenger carrying railway in its day.
Peterhead has a history of poor conditions for prisoners, being referred to as "Scotland's gulag, a prison of no hope".[2] A recent prison inspection reported that electricity had only just been made available in all the cells and slopping out still continues at the prison.[3]
HMP Peterhead is now a specialist centre for sex offenders.[4]
Talks on replacing the current prison with a new one began in 2006.[5] They were revived in November 2006.[6][7]
Contents[][hide]*1 1980s disturbances |
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1980s disturbances
A series of disturbances and rooftop protests at the then-century-old HMP Peterhead in November 1988, led to a series of meetings called by drug user charity Gateway Exchange.[8]
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Notable inmates
- Neil O'Boyle, Irish Republican[9]
- John Maclean, radical Socialist, sentenced to five years for sedition (campaigning against World War I)
- Johnny Ramensky, safe-cracker and World War II commando
- Peter Tobin, serial sex offender and convicted murderer
- William Beggs, the Limbs in the Loch Murderer[10]
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References
- ^ a b c Scraton, P., Sim, J. & Skidmore, P. (1991) Prisons Under Protest, Buckingham: Open University Press
- ^ Scraton, P., Sim, J. & Skidmore, P. (1991) Prisons Under Protest, Buckingham: Open University Press pg.14
- ^ "HM INSPECTORATE OF PRISONS HMP PETERHEAD INSPECTION: 30-31 MARCH 2005". Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
- ^ Peterhead Prison: Granite fortress - Retrieved 31/08/07
- ^ "New Peterhead prison is favoured" - BBC News
- ^ "New jail could be built on existing site, says Salmond" - This is North Scotland.co.uk
- ^ "Superjail Cannot Come Soon Enough" - ThisisNorth Scotland.co.uk, Feb 2008
- ^ Scraton, P., Sim, J. & Skidmore, P. (1991) Prisons Under Protest, Buckingham: Open University Press, pg.1
- ^ G21.net
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1593493.stm
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External links
- "HM INSPECTORATE OF PRISONS HMP PETERHEAD INSPECTION: 30-31 MARCH 2005". Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
- Peterhead Prison 'as bad as ever' - bbc.co.uk
- H.M. PETERHEAD PRISON CONDITIONS UNDER FIRE
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