{{Short description|British secure children's home (juvenile detention facility)}} thumb|Front entrance of Red Bank, shortly before closure. It is now cordoned off by a security gate.{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{coord|53.445545|-2.612708|display=t}}
'''Red Bank Secure Unit''' (more commonly referred to as '''Red Bank'''), part of '''Red Bank Community Home''', was one of several English Local Authority Secure Children's Homes (a juvenile detention facility) located in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. It opened in 1965, when it was one of three such units, and accepted both boys and girls.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.thetcj.org/child-care-history-policy/children-referred-to-closed-units-by-pat-cawson-and-mary-martell |title='Children Referred to Closed Units' by Pat Cawson and Mary Martell |journal=The Therapeutic Care Journal |date=1 December 2009 |accessdate=17 November 2016}}</ref> The unit closed in May 2015.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=132982 |title=Red Bank School |publisher=Department for Education |accessdate=17 November 2016 }}</ref>
In 1990, when it housed 26 boys and young men convicted of serious crimes including murder, rape and arson, John Evans, the local member of parliament, described its work as "excellent and valuable" and said, "the special unit is not a harsh place, but it has rules that must be adhered to. The young people learn self-control and discipline in an affectionate environment that is sensitive to their special needs."<ref>{{citation |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199091/cmhansrd/1990-11-12/Debate-4.html |title=House of Commons Debate 4 |publisher=Hansard |date=12 November 1990 |accessdate=17 November 2016}}</ref> It later specialised in accommodating child sex offenders.<ref name=Indy_21_Jan_2010 /> In 2009, it was one of nine secure children's homes in England.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2009/03/27/four-secure-childrens-homes-lose-youth-justice-board-contracts/ |title=Four secure children's homes lose Youth Justice Board contracts |author=Mithran Samuel |date=27 March 2009 |publisher=Community Care |accessdate=17 November 2016}}</ref>
It is now a school for children with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs called Willow Bank.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
== Notable inmates ==
* Mary Bell, from 1968 to 1973. Bell was transferred to Red Bank secure unit where she was the only female among approximately 24 inmates.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 January 2021 |title=Inside Abandoned Red Bank Unit Where Jon Venables Was Held |newspaper=The Warrington Guardian |url=https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/18212769.inside-abandoned-red-bank-unit-jon-venables-held/ |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> Bell would later claim that she was sexually abused by a member of staff and several inmates while incarcerated at this facility,<ref name="BellOrder">{{cite news |date=3 May 1998 |title=The Mary Bell Affair: The Mob Will Move On; The Pain Never Can |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/comment/story/0,6903,688108,00.html. |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> claiming the sexual abuse began when she was 13.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 May 1998 |title=Police Investigate Bell's Abuse Claims |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/police-investigate-bell-s-abuse-claims-1161695.html |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref> * Jon Venables, from 1993 to 2001, in Vardy House, a small eight-bedded unit.<ref name="STM">{{Cite journal |author=Smith, David James |date=3 April 2011 |title=The Secret Life of a Killer |url=http://www.pressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/Winners2011/entries-301100613-01445.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=The Sunday Times Magazine |pages=22–34 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112145748/http://www.pressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/Winners2011/entries-301100613-01445.pdf |archive-date=12 November 2013}}</ref> Venables was one of James Bulger's killers.<ref name="Indy_21_Jan_2010">{{citation |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-end-of-innocence-inside-britains-child-prisons-1874053.html |title=The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons |author=Paul Vallely |date=21 January 2010 |newspaper=The Independent }}</ref> Despite the facility being a short-stay remand unit, Venables eventually made good progress at Red Bank after initial problems,{{clarify|date=September 2025}} resulting in him being kept there for eight years.<ref name="STM" /> Allegations that a female employee of the unit had engaged in sexual activity with Venables while he was imprisoned there were widely reported in 2011.<ref>{{citation |author=David James Smith |title=Bulger killer had sex in prison |date=27 March 2011 |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article588492.ece |journal=The Sunday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125094144/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article588492.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 25, 2013 |accessdate=17 November 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
Category:Penal system in England Category:Youth detention centers Category:Defunct prisons in England Category:1965 establishments in England Category:2015 disestablishments in England