HM Prison Aylesbury

HMP Aylesbury

HM Prison Aylesbury, shortly after construction in 1847
Location	Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Security class	Young Offenders Institution
Population	444 (as of May 2006)
Opened	1847
Managed by	HM Prison Services
Governor	Laura Sapwell
Website	Aylesbury at justice.gov.uk

HM Prison Aylesbury (full title Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution (HMYOI) Aylesbury) is a Young Offender Institution situated in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. The prison is located on the north side of the town centre, on Bierton Road. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

There has been a prison or gaol of some description in Aylesbury since 1810. The current prison is of early Victorian design and was modelled on Reading County Gaol, it has been on its present site since 1847 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 male 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.