{{Short description|Men's prison in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox prison | prison_name = HMP Lincoln | image = [[File:HMP Lincoln.jpg|frameless]] | caption = | location = [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], [[Lincolnshire]] | coordinates = | status = | classification = [[Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom|Adult Male/Category B]] | capacity = 408 (baseline certified normal capacity) | population = 567 | populationdate = May 2025 | opened = 1872 | closed = | former_name = | managed_by = [[Her Majesty's Prison Service|HM Prison Services]] | governor = Colin Hussey | website = {{HM prison|lincoln|Lincoln}} }}

'''HM Prison Lincoln''' is a [[Prison security categories in the United Kingdom|Category B]] men's [[prison]], located in [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], [[Lincolnshire]], [[England]]. The prison is operated by [[His Majesty's Prison Service]]. A category B prison which allocates convicted prisoners within its catchment area.

==History== Lincoln opened as a local prison in 1872 to hold [[Detention of suspects|remand]] and convicted prisoners and replacing the prison at [[Lincoln Castle]]. The original 1869–72 structures designed by Frederick Peck are now [[listed building]]s and are notable examples of [[Victorian architecture|High Victorian]] gothic design. The prison accommodation has been altered and extended at various times in the 20th century.

Between 1900 and 1961 a total of 18 [[judicial execution]]s took place at the prison. The last execution was that of Wasyl Gnypiuk, a 34-year-old Polish-Ukrainian immigrant. After being convicted of the murder of Louise Surgey (his 62-year-old landlady) at Nottingham Assizes, Gnypiuk was [[hanged]] by executioner [[Harry Allen (executioner)|Harry Allen]] on 27 January 1961. Afterwards, his body was buried in an [[unmarked grave]] within the walls of the prison, as was customary.<ref>{{cite web|author=Meaghan |url=http://www.executedtoday.com/2012/01/27/1961-wasyl-gnypiuk-sleep-killer/ |title=1961: Wasyl Gnypiuk, sleep-killer |publisher=ExecutedToday.com |date=27 January 2012 |accessdate=12 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wilkinp4.blackapplehost.com/People/Male/Harry_Allen/Harry_Allen.htm |title=Free Web Hosting |publisher=Wilkinp4.blackapplehost.com |date= |access-date=12 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704024858/http://wilkinp4.blackapplehost.com/People/Male/Harry_Allen/Harry_Allen.htm |archive-date=4 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In October 2002 inmates set fire to parts of the prison and seized control of at least one section of the prison during a large [[prison riot|riot]] at Lincoln. The disturbance started when a prison officer was attacked by a prisoner. A number of prisoners then jumped on the officer, assaulted him and dragged him into a cell and took his keys. It took prison officers eight hours to bring the riot under control.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2355401.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; Prison riot 'under control' |publisher=BBC News |date=24 October 2002 |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

In March 2003 The [[Prison Reform Trust]] issued a report claiming that Lincoln Prison was unstable and suffering inconsistent leadership. The Trust also labelled Lincoln as the nation's most overcrowded prison, holding 13 inmates over its maximum capacity of 738.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2842955.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; Jail 'recipe for disaster' |publisher=BBC News |date=12 March 2003 |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref> Its operational capacity as of April 2023 is 650 inmates.

==The prison today== Lincoln is a Category B local prison holding adult male remand and convicted prisoners from the courts in Lincolnshire, [[Nottinghamshire]] and the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]]. Accommodation at the prison is spread across four residential wings (A, B, C & E wings) and a segregation unit.

The regime at Lincoln includes production workshops, charity workshops, [[laundry]], [[education]], vocational training courses and Offending behaviour courses. Other facilities include the prison's [[gym]].

In 2025 [[HM Inspectorate of Prisons for England & Wales|HM Inspectorate of Prisons]] identified HMP Lincoln as setting standards for other prisons due to comparatively low rates of violence and drug use. Overcrowding and time spent in cells were however cited as concerns.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-05 |title=Lincoln Prison sets standards others should aim for, says report |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy08d7dnd4jo |access-date=2026-04-28 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Notable former inmates== * [[Jeffrey Archer]]; English author and politician, imprisoned for perjury * [[Fenner Brockway]]; British peace campaigner and later a politician who was imprisoned as a conscientious objector * [[Don Brothwell]]; British archaeologist who was imprisoned after refusing the call-up for National Service as a conscientious objector * [[Murder of Mona Tinsley|Fred Nodder]]; Child murderer executed at Lincoln in 1937; In 1954 his infamous crime led to [[Murder conviction without a body#History|English case law no longer requiring a body]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-37577247|title=The mother, the medium and the murder that changed the law|author= Greig Watson|work=BBC News|date=5 January 2017|accessdate=5 January 2017}}</ref> * [[John George Haigh]]; English serial killer in the 1940s * [[John Poulson]]; British architect and businessman, imprisoned for bribery * [[Percy Toplis]]; the subject of the controversial [[The Monocled Mutineer|Monacled Mutineer]] series about his alleged role in the [[Étaples mutiny]] served two years hard labour for attempted rape * [[Éamon de Valera]]; Irish politician, later [[Taoiseach]] and [[President of Ireland]] * [[Charles Salvador]]; British Prisoner

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.justice.gov.uk/global/contacts/noms/prison-finder/lincoln/ Pages on Lincoln] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101034458/http://www.justice.gov.uk/global/contacts/noms/prison-finder/lincoln/ |date=1 November 2011 }}

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{{Prisons in the East Midlands}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln (Hm Prison)}} [[Category:Prisons in Lincolnshire]] [[Category:Category B prisons in England]] [[Category:1872 establishments in England]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Lincoln, England|HM Prison]] [[Category:Men's prisons]]