Parkhurst (HM Prison)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HM Prison Parkhurst is a prison situated in Parkhurst, Isle of Wight.
Parkhurst prison (or to use the correct name HM Central Prison) is one of three closely associated prisons, the other two being Camp Hill, and Albany. Parkhurst and Albany were once amongst the few top-security prisons in the United Kingdom, but were downgraded in the 1990s.
The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) made their way out of the prison on 3 January 1995 to enjoy four days of freedom before being recaptured. One of them, Keith Rose, is an amateur pilot. Actually, across those tough four days, they were looking for an opportunity to steal a plane from the local airclub. Parkhurst especially enjoyed notoriety as one of toughest jails in the British Isles and "hosted" many notable inmates, including John Duddy, the Richardson brothers, the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and the Kray twins.
Camp Hill is located adjacent and to the west of Albany and Parkhurst, on the very edge of Parkhurst Forest. Originally on the site of an army camp (both Albany and Parkhurst were barracks) with a small estate of tree-lined roads with well-proportioned officer's houses (with varying grandeur according to rank) to the South and East. Having been converted to a borstal and later a category C prison.
