HM Prison Kirkham

{{Short description|HMP Category D men's prison, near Kirkham, Lancashire}}{{EngvarB|date=September 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}} {{Infobox prison | prison_name = HMP Kirkham | image = HMP Kirkham 02.jpg | caption = | location = [[Kirkham, Lancashire]] | coordinates = | status = | classification = [[Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom|Adult Male/Category D]] | capacity = 700 | population = | populationdate = | opened = 1962 | closed = | former_name = | managed_by = [[His Majesty's Prison Service|HM Prison Services]] | governor = Alli Black | website = {{HM prison|kirkham|Kirkham}} | pushpin_map = United Kingdom Borough of Fylde#Lancashire | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Fylde Borough##Shown within Lancashire | pushpin_label = HMP Kirkham }} '''HM Prison Kirkham''' is a [[Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom|Category D]] men's prison, located southwest of [[Kirkham, Lancashire|Kirkham]] in Lancashire, England. The prison is operated by [[His Majesty's Prison Service]].

==History== ===RAF Kirkham=== The prison's location was originally the site of '''RAF Kirkham''', which was built by [[George Wimpey]] on {{convert|220|acre|ha}} of land bordering the [[A583 road]] from [[Blackpool]] to [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]. Work commenced in 1939 and the camp opened in 1940 as a training camp for RAF tradesmen. Up to 1945 it trained 72,000 British and allied service men and women. In November 1941 Kirkham became the main armament training centre for the RAF, with 21 different trades and 86 different courses on equipment and weapons. Pupils came not only from the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], but the United States, the [[Netherlands]], [[Poland]], France, [[Norway]], [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[Belgium]]. Kirkham had ten hangars as well as its own cinema and hospital. From May to December 1945 Kirkham became a [[Demobilization|demob centre]]. After the war it trained RAF boy entrants until December 1957 when it closed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=7976,15,2,15,468,0 |title=Kirkham's History |website=HM Prison Service |access-date=1 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023153947/http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=7976,15,2,15,468,0 |archive-date=23 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Kirkham Prison=== In the early 1960s part of the facility was taken over by the [[Home Office]] with HMP Kirkham opening in 1962 as an [[open prison]]. The rest of the land lay derelict, but is now used for agricultural purposes and a [[nature reserve]]. Today most of the infrastructure, services and buildings of the prison are still of [[World War II]] vintage, though prisoner accommodation is located in more modern buildings.

In June 2003 it emerged that Kirkham Prison had seen more prisoners abscond than any other open prison in England and Wales. Statistics showed that 911 inmates had absconded from 1998 to 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3030684.stm |title=Prison Service defends open jails |date=29 June 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref>

In January 2004 Kirkham became the first prison in England (along with [[HM Prison Morton Hall|HMP Morton Hall]]) to trial the Intermittent Custody Scheme. The scheme saw some inmates held at Kirkham from Monday to Friday (released at weekends), while another set of prisoners were held on Saturdays and Sundays (released during the week). The scheme was designed to allow prisoners on short sentences to remain in employment, independent housing and maintain family ties during their jail terms.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jan/26/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title='Home and away' prison trial begins |first=Eric |last=Allison |date=26 January 2004 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, UK |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref> The scheme was subsequently abandoned in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6109886.stm |title='Weekend prison' scheme scrapped |date=2 November 2006 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref>

In August 2004 the [[Prison Reform Trust]] issued statistics revealing that Kirkham had the worst record for inmate drug use of all prisons in England. A survey of drug tests at the prison showed that 35% of inmates tested positive for controlled substances.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/3560486.stm |title=Prison 'worst' for drug taking |date=13 August 2004 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref>

In 2011 inmates were involved in a scheme to restore [[Blackpool Tramway|Blackpool trams]] on behalf of the Friends of Fleetwood Trams.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-16031069 |title=Inmates restore Blackpool trams |date=5 December 2011 |work=BBC News |access-date=22 August 2020}}</ref>

On 8 April 2025, and following a two-week trial, Kerri Pegg, a former prison governor at Kirkham, was convicted of two counts of misconduct in public office over an affair with a prisoner.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvqe14gm4yo |title=Kerri Pegg: Kirkham prison governor guilty of relationship with inmate |date=8 April 2025 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |accessdate=8 April 2025}}</ref> On 16 May 2025, Pegg was sentenced to nine years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Sarah |last=Spina-Matthews |first2=Tom |last2=Mullen |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c991y2871r1o |title=Prison governor jailed for relationship with inmate |date=16 May 2025 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |accessdate=16 May 2025}}</ref>

==The prison today== [[File:HMP Kirkham 01.jpg|thumb|right|200px|50th anniversary banner, 2012]] Kirkham is an open men's prison, and holds [[Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom|Category D]] prisoners who can reasonably be trusted to serve their sentence in open conditions. Kirkham provides morning and afternoon education provided by [[The Manchester College]]. Offenders are also employed in the prison's kitchen, workshops, farms and gardens and works departments.

Kirkham accommodates around 700 prisoners in 28 units. It can house prisoners with physical disabilities, having wheelchair access. The prison is a no-smoking facility.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/kirkham-prison#life-at-kirkham|title=Life at Kirkham|publisher=HM Government|access-date=4 February 2024}}</ref>

==Notable former inmates== * [[Gerard Collier, 5th Baron Monkswell]] * [[George Reynolds (businessman)|George Reynolds]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2400052/Darlington-land-in-safe-hands.html |title=Darlington land in safe hands |first=Robert |last=Philip |date=21 April 2003 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London, UK |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref> * [[Ian Brown]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/news/ian-brown/618 |title=Aziz: 'Ian Was Made An Example Of' |date=October 10, 1998 |website=[[NME]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009035733/https://www.nme.com/news/ian-brown/618 |archive-date=October 9, 2012}}</ref> * [[Simon Garner]]<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-74416069/simon-bouncing-back-after-prison-sentence |title=Simon Bouncing Back after Prison Sentence |first=Bill |last=Howell |date=December 5, 1999 |newspaper=[[Sunday Mercury]] |via=}}{{dl|date=July 2021}}</ref> * [[Jan Mølby]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/different-giggs-different-league-but-every-bit-as-red-7219869.html |title=Different Giggs, different league . . . but every bit as Red |newspaper=[[London Evening Standard]] |publisher=ES London |date=17 November 2006 |access-date=10 December 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606141418/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23374946-different-giggs-different-league-but-every-bit-as-red.do |archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/kirkham-prison Ministry of Justice pages on Kirkham]

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[[Category:Category D prisons in England|Kirkham]] [[Category:Prisons in Lancashire|Kirkham]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the Borough of Fylde]] [[Category:1962 establishments in England]] [[Category:Men's prisons|Kirkham]] [[Category:Kirkham, Lancashire]]