HM Prison Styal

HMP Styal
LocationWilmslow, Cheshire
Security classFemale/Closed Category
Population486 (as of February 2017)
Opened1962
Managed byHM Prison Services
GovernorNicky Hargreaves [1]
WebsiteStyal at justice.gov.uk

HM Prison Styal is a Closed Category prison for female adults and young offenders in Styal, Cheshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

History

The prison occupies former buildings of the Styal Cottage Homes which opened as an orphanage for destitute children from the Manchester area in 1898.[2] It closed in 1956 and the site re-opened as a women's prison in 1962, with women transferred from HMP Manchester.

From 1983 Styal began holding young offenders, and in 1999 a wing was added to accommodate unsentenced female prisoners following the closure of Risley's remand centre. This increased the size of the prison by 60%.

In 2003, Styal Prison was singled out as having one of the worst records for suicides in England and Wales. The Howard League for Penal Reform called for an independent inquiry into the jail, stating that bullying, drugs and overcrowding were probable causes for the high number of deaths.[3]

In 2004, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons stated that inmates at Styal Prison were being put at risk by a lack of support during drug withdrawal and with mental health problems. The report also expressed concern about the use of special cells to hold disruptive prisoners, including self-harmers. However, the report did praise the prison's staff–prisoner relations, education provision and resettlement services. The Chief Inspector also said that race relations at Styal were "among the best" she had seen.[4]

An inspection report in 2018 found that the incidence of self-harm was high, but noted that it mainly occurred in a small number of women. The report was positive and particularly praised the prison's strategies for resettling inmates in the community on release.[5] An average of 1.3 deaths from all causes occurred per year in inmates of the prison between 2000 and 2018.[6]

In 2020, a woman serving an eight-month sentence gave birth to a stillborn baby in the prison toilets. Despite having alerted prison staff several times, it took several hours for the woman to receive medical attention, the prison radio system failed when an attempt was finally made to call an ambulance, and no attempts to perform CPR on the baby were made. If the prisoner had received proper medical attention, the baby might have been saved. In 2021, the prison was placed under investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.[7][8][9][10]

Deaths

Since 2001, at least 19 women have died at HMP Styal:

Date Name Age Cause of death Ref.
10 August 2002 Nissa Ann Smith 20 Suicide [11]
November 2002 Anna Baker 29 Suicide [11]
January 2003 Sarah Campbell 18 Drug overdose [11]
April 2003 Jolene Willis 24 Suicide [11]
June 2003 Hayley Williams 41 Suicide [11]
12 August 2003 Julie Walsh 39 Drug overdose [11]
May 2006 Valerie Hayes 42 Suicide [11]
19 January 2008 Lisa Marley 32 Suicide [12]
October 2016 Celeste Craig 26 Unknown [13]
February 2018 Nicola Birchall 41 Unknown [14]
4 June 2018 Imogen Mellor 29 Unknown [14]
3 March 2019 Christine MacDonald 56 Unknown [14]
May 2019 Susan Knowles 48 Unknown [6][14]
22 December 2020 Annelise Sanderson 18 Suicide [15]
2 July 2022 Eileen McDonagh 25 Unknown [16]
31 July 2022 Rebecca Parkinson 43 Suicide [17]
15 December 2023 Laura Parry 59 Unknown
21 December 2023 Sarah Jackson 46 Unknown [18]
20 July 2024 Sarah Boyle 35 Suicide [19]
24 December 2024 Alex Davies 25 Suicide [1]
27 January 2025 Lorna Carter 58 Unknown [20]
9 March 2025 Stephanie Brennan 38 Suicide [21]

The prison today

Styal is a Closed Category prison for sentenced and remanded female adults and young offenders. There are also facilities for mothers with babies up to age 18 months.

The education provision at Styal is contracted out to The Manchester College. Courses offered include hairdressing, information technology, art and design, ESOL, catering, industrial cleaning, painting & decorating, and Open University support.

Other facilities at HMP Styal include a library, gym and multi-faith chaplaincy.

A Visitors Centre is available, run by Contact Cheshire Support Group with play area and refreshments. In the main Visits Hall, facilities include a tea bar and a children's play area (also run by Contact Cheshire Support Group).

There is a restaurant, called Clink, in what was the chapel. This is open to the public and offers training in hospitality and catering to inmates.

The prison was featured in the BBC2 documentary Women on the Edge – the Truth about Styal Prison on 27 February 2006.

Notable inmates

Notable people currently imprisoned or who were imprisoned at HMP Styal include:

  • Lauren Jeska, transgender fell-runner convicted of the attempted murder of Ralph Knibbs[22]
  • Farzana Ahmed, mother of Shafilea Ahmed, who she murdered in 2003. Sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment in 2012[23]
  • Savannah Brockhill, woman who abused and murdered her female partner's 16-month-old child, Star Hobson. Her case was widely publicised in 2021, shortly after the similarly high-profile child murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by Emma Tustin. Brockhill was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment.[24][25]
  • Sarah Williams, given a 25-year minimum sentence in 2016 for the murder of a woman with her friend Katrina Walsh[26]
  • Corina Smith, was sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband with a boiling mixture of water and sugar after she was told he had sexually assaulted her two children. She will serve a minimum of 12 years at HMP Styal before she can be considered for parole.[27]
  • Mary Bell, stayed from November 1973 to June 1976. She and another girl, Norma Joyce Bell (no relation), had murdered two young boys. Reportedly, Bell resented her transferral to this facility,[28] and while incarcerated at HM Prison Styal, Bell unsuccessfully applied for parole.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Styal Prison and Young Offender Institution". 14 February 2024.
  2. ^ Higginbotham, Peter (30 July 2017). Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5267-0137-4. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Inquiry call for women's prison". BBC News. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Prison 'failing vulnerable women'". BBC News. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. ^ Clarke, Peter (June 2018). "Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Styal by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons" (PDF). Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.
  6. ^ a b "HMP Styal: Inmate, 48, dies in custody at women's prison". BBC News. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  7. ^ Houston, David; George, Thomas (22 September 2021). "Woman who lost baby in prison says 'more could have been done' to help her". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  8. ^ Taylor, Diane; Devlin, Hannah (23 September 2021). "Fear of more baby deaths as ministers stand firm on jailing pregnant women". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  9. ^ "The night my baby died as I gave birth in prison". BBC News. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  10. ^ Taylor, Diane; Wolfe-Robinson, Maya (11 January 2022). "UK inmate gave birth to stillborn in prison toilets, inquiry finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Gillan, Audrey; Ward, David (22 August 2003). "Inquiry called into suicides at women's prison". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  12. ^ McDowall, Rhiannon (11 January 2013). "¿Coroner slams prison over inmate's suicide". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  13. ^ "'A good kid who had problems but was let down' – woman found dead at Styal prison". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d Abbit, Beth (14 May 2019). "A woman has died at HMP Styal in Cheshire - she's the fourth inmate to die in less than two years". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Family say woman's jail death could have been prevented". BBC News. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Woman dies 'after going into cardiac arrest' at Styal prison". Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Mystery of woman's death within 24 hours of remand at Styal prison". Yahoo News. 9 April 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  18. ^ "Investigation launched as two prisoners die in custody within week of each other". Knutsford Guardian. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Sarah Boyle: Prevention of Future Deaths Report". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Inquest opened after woman, 58, dies while in custody". Knutsford Guardian. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  21. ^ "Inquest opens after 38-year-old woman dies in custody at Cheshire prison". Chester and District Standard. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  22. ^ Cooper, Matthew (25 April 2016). "Champion Machynlleth runner in court over attempted murder charge". North Wales Live.
  23. ^ "Shafilea's parents remanded in custody". Warrington Guardian. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  24. ^ Pagnelli, Joe (14 December 2021). "Courts confirm which jail child murderer Savannah Brockhill is in". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  25. ^ "Star Hobson murder: Savannah Brockhill jailed for 25 years". BBC News. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Two women appear in court accused of murder of Sadie Hartley". The Guardian. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  27. ^ Byrne, Kerry (11 July 2021). "UK mom killed hubby with boiling water for allegedly sexually abusing her kids". The New York Times.
  28. ^ "Life Detention for Girl of 11". The Guardian. 23 July 1974. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  29. ^ "Child Killer Mary Bell Escapes From Gaol". The Guardian. 12 September 1977. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
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