Population 532 (as of June 2009) Governor Mick Bell | Managed by HM Prison Services Phone +44 1454 264000 | |
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Location Tortworth, Gloucestershire Website Leyhill at justice.gov.uk Address Leyhill, Wotton-under-Edge GL12 8BT, UK Security class Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom Similar HM Prison Eastwood Park, HM Prison Channings Wood, HM Prison Prescoed, HM Prison Huntercombe, HM Prison Buckley Hall | ||
HM Prison Leyhill is a Category D men's prison, located in the parish of Tortworth in Gloucestershire, England. Leyhill Prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
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History
Leyhill Prison was originally a United States military hospital built for the Second World War. The site was converted into a prison in 1946, with inmates originally being housed in hutted accommodation. The prison was rebuilt in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and in 1986 prisoners were re-housed in new living accommodation. In 2002 new accommodation units were added to increase the prison's capacity.
In a March 2002 report, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised Leyhill for failing to prepare inmates for release, stating that too little was being done to help inmates get ready for the pressures of life outside. The report also claimed that staff had no clear idea of their role at the prison.
In May 2006, it was revealed that more than one inmate a week was escaping from Leyhill Prison, although technically inmates cannot escape, only abscond from an open prison. Statistics showed that 66 prisoners had walked out of Leyhill in the 2005/06 financial year. The Prison Service claimed the number of escapes was down to population pressures in the UK prison estate, with less trustworthy prisoners being transferred to open prisons like Leyhill.
The prison today
Leyhill is a prison for adult male prisoners from the South West area who are deemed "low risk", which usually includes non-violent offenders as well as violent offenders who have made good progress during their time at more secure prisons. Prisoners have the keys to their own cell.
Leyhill runs a variety of courses designed to help prisoners prepare for release. These include a general joinery woodwork shop (offering City & Guilds qualifications in Woodwork); a printing shop; a commercial laundry; Industrial Cleaning and Car-Valeting training; Waste Management and Recycling training; and Forklift truck and Tractor Training.
The prison's farms and gardens also provide work and training for prisoners on a 55-hectare estate, including extensive ornamental grounds. There is a nationally important arboretum run in conjunction with the Forestry Commission; it is often open to the public.
As an open prison a number of prisoners at Leyhill are placed in the community to complete work and training placements. These placements are designed with the focus of improving a prisoner's chance of successful resettlement in the community on release.
As of mid November 2016 three potentially violent prisoners have absconded.