History
There has been a prison or gaol of some description in Aylesbury since 1180. The current prison is of early Victorian design and has been on its present site since 1845 following extensive public building in the area that also included the workhouse (now the Tindal Centre). Since construction, it has gone through a variety of changes, starting as a county gaol, then became an adult women's prison in 1890, changing to a girls' borstal in the 1930s, and between 1959-1961 was an adult male prison, after which it became a male YOI and since 1989 has held only long term prisoners.
In 1998 Aylesbury Prison was criticised after an inspection report highlighted its poor health regime (the jail saw the rapid turnover of five senior medical officers in two years). The report opened up a wider debate about the pay of medical staff in UK prisons compared to those in the NHS.
In 2001 the Imam for Aylesbury Prison was suspended after allegations of inappropriate comments after the September 11 New York terror attacks. A year after this a study of prisoners' diets at Aylesbury (conducted by Surrey University) found that adding vitamins, minerals and other nutritional elements to the diets of young offenders 'remarkably' reduced their antisocial behaviour.
The prison was back in the headlines in 2007 after it was revealed to have a higher rate of self-harm by inmates than any other Young Offenders Institution in England Following the introduction of the prison service ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork) system the rate of self-harm has reduced significantly.
In December 2008, police officers and Prison Service 'Tornado Teams' were called in to contain a disturbance at Aylesbury Prison, officially described as a 'Concerted Indiscipline'. The incident lasted six hours, and involved a number of inmates who were taking part in Eid celebrations. A number of these were charged with 'Prison Mutiny'.
In November 2009, a prison officer from Aylesbury was jailed after it emerged that she had become pregnant after having a sexual relationship with an inmate. The prison officer was also convicted of smuggling three mobile phones into Aylesbury Prison.
Read more about this topic: HM Prison Aylesbury
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