HM Prison Askham Grange
Governor Julia Spence | | |
Website | Askham Grange at justice.gov.uk |
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HM Prison Askham Grange is a women's
History
H.M. Prison Askham Grange was opened in January 1947 as a women's open prison and was the first such prison in the country.[1] The first Governor of H.M.P. Askham Grange was Anglo-Irish penal reformer Mary Size, who remained in post from January 1947 until her retirement from the prison service in September 1952.[2]
Mrs.
In 1973 Susan McCormick was appointed Governor at Askham Grange, becoming (at 28) "the youngest ever governor or warden of a women's prison in Britain."[6] McCormick went on to introduce programmes of rehabilitation in the prison for soon-to-be released prisoners (a relatively new idea at the time).
In 1979, two inmates, Jenny Hicks and Jackie Holborough, founded the Clean Break (theatre company) at Askham Grange.[7][8] Today Clean Break is a theatre, education and new writing company that works with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system.[9] The group now have links with most women's prisons in the UK.[10]
In 1997 the prison was the subject of the documentary Witness: Babies Behind Bars shown on Channel 4.[11]
In 2001 two inmates from Askham Grange launched a High Court battle for the right to keep their babies with them in prison beyond the age of 18 months. The challenge failed, but launched a wider debate in the media about mother's rights and their children in prison.[12]
The prison today
Askham Grange accepts adult females and female
Accommodation in the prison consists mainly of
The Prison has an external Garden Centre and Coffee Shop (The Grange Coffee Shop and Garden Centre) which is open to the general public seven days a week as well as a Conference Centre, all of which are operated by the residents to give them the skills to prepare for release.
Notable inmates
- Tracie Andrews, convicted of murder for stabbing her fiancé Lee Harvey to death[13]
- Mary Bell, the infamous child killer served out the last of her sentence at Askham Grange before being released in 1980.
- Helen John, a peace campaigner, was held at Askham Grange for criminal damage whilst standing against Tony Blair in the UK 2001 general election in his Sedgefield constituency[14]
References
- ^ "HISTORIES OF DIFFERENT PRISONS". www.naopv.com. National Association of Official Prison Visitors. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ISBN 9781349364268.
- ^ "Humanity behind prison bars". Yorkshire Evening Post. 22 August 1952. Retrieved 12 September 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
- ^ "New Governor of Holloway". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 13 October 1959. Retrieved 12 September 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ Billington, Rachel (29 March 2019). "Bitching drama – insidetime & insideinformation". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Now showing: Myra as Mary Magdalene! | World news". The Guardian. London. 2 March 1999. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ "New life behind bars". The Independent. 1 April 1997. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "UK | Ruling against prison mothers". BBC News. 17 May 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ Wardrop, Murray (26 July 2011). "Tracie Andrews 'unrepentant' as she is freed from jail". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Prisoner fights Blair seat". York Press. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 21 July 2021.