Location | South Littleton, Worcestershire |
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Security class | Adult Male/Category A |
Population | 615 (as of October 2012) |
Opened | 1971 |
Managed by | HM Prison Services |
Governor | Tom Wheatley |
Website | Long Lartin at justice.gov.uk |
HM Prison Long Lartin is a Category A men's prison, located in the village of South Littleton (near Evesham) in the District of Wychavon in Worcestershire, England. It is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
Long Lartin Prison was opened as a Category C training prison in 1971, with additional security features and systems being added in 1972 to enable it to operate as a dispersal prison.
In April 1990, inmates at Long Lartin Prison attempted a mass breakout, and about 30 prisoners barricaded themselves on a landing after guards foiled their escape bid. As a consequence of this and other security breaches, as well as the Woodcock/Learmont reports, the establishment was further upgraded between 1995-97 to a maximum security prison.
In August 1998, the then Governor of Long Lartin, Jim Mullen claimed that mentally ill inmates at the prison faced unacceptable delays before being transferred to appropriate hospital accommodation. Mullen stated that up to 20 of his 379 inmates should have been in secure hospital accommodation, after a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons called for action to speed up the movement of prisoners in need of specialist care.
A supermax segregation unit (the biggest in Europe) & a new residential wing called Perrie Wing was opened at Long Lartin in June 1999, designed to hold the most violent and dangerous types of offenders. The new wing substantially increased the capacity of Long Lartin Prison.
A November 2003 inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that Long Lartin Prison was generally safe for inmates and offered good staff-prisoner relations and reoffending work. However the report also cited serious deficiencies at the prison in areas such as race relations, the overloaded and understaffed drug treatment team, and too many prisoners being locked up instead of in work.