Bullingdon (HM Prison)

Infobox HM Prison
name = HMP Bullingdon


size =
caption =
opened = 1992
type = Adult Male/Local
figures = 1054 (August 2008)
location = Arncott, Oxfordshire
governor = Phil Taylor
prisonid = 290

HMP Bullingdon is a Category B/C local prison, located in Arncott (near Bicester) in Oxfordshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. Bullingdon Prison is named after Bullingdon, the ancient hundred in Oxfordshire.

History

Opened in 1992, Bullingdon was constructed as a ‘new gallery' design prison, with its four main houseblocks divided into three galleried units. A fifth houseblock was added in 1998 which is a two galleried unit. The prison was highlighted as being dangerously overcrowded in 2002 by Colin Moses (chairman of the Prison Officers Association) in a speech to the TUC conference. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2249585.stm] A year later Bullingdon was embroiled in further controversy when Deputy Governor Terence McLaren was arrested for possession of cocaine and child pornography offences. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2660225.stm] A prisoner escaped from Bullingdon a month later. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3161785.stm] The prison was again highlighted as the most overcrowded in England in 2004. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_3757000/3757494.stm] In 2006 Governor Phil Taylor was criticised after he banned the display of the England flag by warders for fear of upsetting foreign inmates. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article679069.ece]

The prison today

Bullingdon Prison accepts Category B prisoners from the local courts on remand as well as general Category C prisoners. A range of Work, Education and Training courses are offered, some of which can lead to Open University qualifications. The chaplaincy has a full-time Church of England minister and Imam.

Notable inmates

* Tony Martin, the farmer who was convicted of the murder of 16-year-old burglar whom he caught in his house was held briefly at Bullingdon in 2000

References

External links

* [http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=290,15,2,15,290,0 HM Prison Service pages on Bullingdon]