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HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs

HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Category B men's local prison, located in the White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

HMP Wormwood Scrubs
Entrance to Wormwood Scrubs Prison
Wormwood Scrubs is located in London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs
LocationWormwood Scrubs, London, England
Coordinates51°31′0″N 0°14′25″W / 51.51667°N 0.24028°W / 51.51667; -0.24028
StatusOperational
Security classAdult Male/Category B
Capacity1,273
Population1,079 (as of 21 June 2021 (2021-06-21))
Opened1875; 149 years ago (1875)
Managed byHis Majesty's Prison Service
GovernorAmy Frost
Websitewww.justice.gov.uk/contacts/prison-finder/wormwood-scrubs Edit this at Wikidata

History

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The prison lies at the southern end of the ancient park of the same name. The name "Scrubs" refers to scrubland while Wormwood — Artemisia absinthium — is a grey-foliaged sub-shrub, common on wasteland, which was traditionally used as a herb for the treatment of parasitic worms.

19th century

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The initial steps in the winter of 1874 involved the construction of a small prison made of corrugated iron and a temporary shed to serve as a barracks for the warders. Nine specially picked prisoners, all within a year of release, completed the buildings, after which 50 more prisoners were brought to erect a second temporary prison wing. Building then began on the permanent prison, with bricks being manufactured on site.

By the summer of 1875, enough bricks had been prepared to build the prison's first block and its ground floor was finished as winter began. Construction was completed in 1891.[1] The designer was Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane, who gave his name to the prison's road.[2]

The First World War

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The prison housed a number of conscientious objectors in the First World War, one of whom, the Quaker journalist Hubert W. Peet, wrote about the conditions there in 112 Days' Hard Labour (1917).

1920 Hunger Strike

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In April 1920 Irish Republican prisoners demanded political status, when denied they began a hunger strike which led to their eventual release. During the strike large crowds supporting the Irish hunger strikers gathered outside of the prison and were attacked by local residents with more than 70 injuries reported.[3]

The Second World War

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During the Second World War, the prison was taken over by the War Department and the prisoners were evacuated to other prisons. The Security Service (MI5) was based at Wormwood Scrubs from 1939 to 1940.[4]

Modern era

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On 22 October 1966 KGB double-agent George Blake escaped from Wormwood Scrubs and fled to the Soviet Union.[5]

In 1979, IRA prisoners staged a rooftop protest over visiting rights. Sixty inmates and several prison officers were injured.[6] In 1982, an inquiry blamed much of the difficulties on failings in prison management. The governor, John McCarthy, had quit before the rioting. In a letter to The Times, he had described Wormwood Scrubs as a "penal dustbin".[citation needed]

 
General view to the prison from park

In the 1990s, a police investigation into allegations of staff brutality resulted in the suspension of 27 prison officers and the conviction of six for assault, though three later won appeals against conviction. The Prison Service paid out more than three million pounds in out-of-court settlements with ex-prisoners who had alleged brutality. The chief inspector of prisons delivered a damning report on the conditions, in which the prison was told to improve or close.

In March 2004, a further report from the chief inspector stated that Wormwood Scrubs had greatly improved after making fundamental changes. Three quarters of inmates at the prison had said that staff treated them with respect, which was better than the national average. However, the report also stated that inmates spent too much time in their cells, and that only 36 per cent of eligible inmates were involved in education or work.[7]

In November 2008, another report from the chief inspector stated that conditions at Wormwood Scrubs had deteriorated since the last inspection. Heightened prison gang activity had been detected, and 20 per cent of prisoners had failed drugs tests.[8]

The prison cell blocks are Grade II listed, with the gatehouse given the higher Grade II* rating.[9]

Major structural changes to the prison's management took place in 2013. In 2014, another report by the Inspectorate of Prisons was critical of the prison, describing it as "filthy". The inspectors also stated that there had been a failure to put into place recommendations by the prisons and probation ombudsman to deal with suicide and self-harm. The chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, a charitable body, said "I have never seen a public service deteriorate so rapidly and so profoundly."[10]

In 2017, the prison was reportedly overcrowded and some areas were strewn with litter and infested with rats and cockroaches.[11][12] At the time of the inspection, there were 1,258 prisoners.[13] Some were locked in their cells for 23 hours a day. The prison was reportedly dangerous for staff and inmates, and officers were concerned for their safety. There were 40 to 50 violent incidents a month.[12][14] Chief Inspector Peter Clarke described "an extremely concerning picture" including, "intractable failings" continuing since earlier inspections from 2014.[11]

In 2018, a prisoner was stabbed to death and three other prisoners were charged with his murder.[15] On 30 August 2018 prisoner Winston Augustine committed suicide in the segregation unit after spending two days locked in a showerless cell with no food and without the tramadol prescribed for kidney stones that caused him pain. He was suffering from ketoacidosis due to starvation. A 2021 inquest subsequently identified the prison's failure to provide food and medication as contributing factors to the death; the facility's head of safer custody told the inquest she was "horrified" by the "wrongdoing".[16]

In 2019, HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that although improvements had been made to make the prison safer, "the work was often not sufficiently embedded to have yet made enough difference to outcomes".[17] Another inspection, in 2021, reported that improvements had been maintained and there were reductions in the levels of violence, though this was partly because many prisoners were locked in their cells for most of the day.[18] At the time of the inspection there were 1,079 prisoners.[19]

In 2024, a prisoner named Graham Gomm absconded after he had been taken to Hammersmith Hospital to be treated following him feeling unwell the day before.[20]

The prison today

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Building inside the prison area

Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B prison for adult males, sentenced or on remand from the local courts. The prison has five main wings and a number of smaller dedicated units. All accommodation includes electricity, integral sanitation, a TV, and accompanying bedroom furniture:

  • A wing – remand and sentenced prisoners
  • B wing – induction wing
  • C wing – remand and sentenced prisoners
  • D wing – remand and sentenced prisoners and high risk prisoner requiring single cells
  • E wing – remand and sentenced prisoners and high risk prisoner requiring single cells
  • Conibeere Unit – prisoners who require a substance misuse stabilisation regime
  • First Night Centre – for prisoners during their first days in custody

There is a prison shop previously run by Aramark, but now run by DHL Supply Chain.[21][22]

The two oval plaster reliefs on the front of the prison depict Elizabeth Fry and John Howard, both well known figures in prison reform.

 
Visitor centre of the prison

Notable inmates

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Literature

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  • Death of a Train (1946) An Inspector French Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts.
  • "The Kite" (1946), short story by W. Somerset Maugham published in The Strand Magazine.
  • "Episode" (1947), short story by W. Somerset Maugham published in Good Housekeeping.
  • One of the main characters in Sarah Waters's novel "The Night Watch" (2006) served his sentence at the Scrubs.
  • Peter Wildeblood was imprisoned in the Scrubs in 1954. His book "Against the Law", describes his trial and imprisonment.
  • The prison is mentioned in the Russian novel Figurehead, by Danil Koretsky (Данил Корецкий, Подставная фигура). The parents of the principal character are held in the Scrubs and are unsuccessfully sought-out by the Russian SVR.
  • Bunny Manders, the narrator of the A. J. Raffles stories by E. W. Hornung, serves his sentence at Wormwood Scrubs.
  • Julet Armstrong, protagonist of the 2018 Kate Atkinson World War II novel Transcription, works for MI5 for a time in the Scrubs.
  • This prison is also mentioned in the book "Stay where you are and then leave", by Irish writer John Boyne, as the place where character Joe Patience stayed for almost two years while refusing to be a soldier in the first world war (chapter 6).
  • The autobiography 'Psychic Screw' of former Prison Officer John G. Sutton details events at the prison including the specifics concerning the rooftop protest by the IRA. Sutton served as an Officer at the jail from 1975 to late 1976.

Film and television

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In films and TV programmes set in Britain the front entrance of Wormwood Scrubs is frequently chosen as a location for scenes showing a character being released from prison, as, for example, in:

A two-part documentary, Wormwood Scrubs, was shown on ITV1 in May 2010.

Music

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References

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  1. ^ Sims, George R. (1978). Living London. Рипол Классик. ISBN 9785878036856. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  2. ^ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 1000.
  3. ^ Macardle, Dorothy (1965). The Irish Republic. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 345.
  4. ^ Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Allen Lane. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-713-99885-6.
  5. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (21 October 2016). "'No regrets' says man who aided double agent George Blake to escape". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Troubled history of the Scrubs". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Jail conditions at Scrubs improve". BBC News. 23 March 2004. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  8. ^ "'Urgent' changes needed at prison". BBC News. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Cell blocks at HMP Wormwood Scrubs". Historic England. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  10. ^ "HMP Wormwood Scrubs 'Filthy and Unsafe', According to Report". BBC News. 3 September 2014.
  11. ^ a b Travis, Alan (8 December 2017). "Inspector finds dramatic increase in violence inside London prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Wormwood Scrubs 'dangerous for inmates and officers'". BBC News. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  13. ^ "HMP Wormwood Scrubs – very concerning". www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Wormwood Scrubs prison sees 'surge in violence'". BBC News. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Three men charged with inmate's murder". BBC News. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  16. ^ Sullivan, Rory (25 May 2021). "Man took his life in jail 'in state of starvation' after being left without food for 48 hours". The Independent. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  17. ^ "HMP Wormwood Scrubs – impressive, though fragile, improvement". www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Wormwood Scrubs – safer and cleaner but prisoners locked in cells for too long". www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wormwood Scrubs" (PDF). HM Inspectorate of Prisons. June 2021.
  20. ^ "Manhunt for prisoner on the run from Wormwood Scrubs". BBC News. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  21. ^ "DHL: Supporting prisoner rehabilitation by enhancing the employability of prisoners and ex offenders". www.igd.com. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  22. ^ "DHL wins new prison 'canteen' contract". insidetime & insideinformation. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  23. ^ "John 'Hoppy' Hopkins obituary". The Guardian. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  24. ^ a b c Evans, Geraint; Fulton, Helen (2019). The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 513. ISBN 978-1316-2272-06.
  25. ^ Nevill, Lord William Beauchamp (28 January 1903). Penal Servitude. London: William Heinemann.. (7 weeks in 1898 before transfer to Parkhurst)
  26. ^ "Joseph Pearce". Catholic.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  27. ^ "Nicos Sampson". The Telegraph. 11 May 2001. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  28. ^ "Sabina Nessa: Man accused of 'predatory' murder of teacher". BBC News. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  29. ^ Smith, Thomas (17 July 2018). "Gorillaz: Murdoc hits back at 2D in exclusive prison interview - NME". NME. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  30. ^ Crewther, Joseph (31 May 2018). "We Visited Murdoc in Jail to Learn about the New Gorillaz Album". Noisey. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
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