HM Prison East Sutton Park


HM Prison East Sutton Park is a women's British [prison security categories|open] prison and young offender's institute located in the Parish of East Sutton, near Maidstone in Kent, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison & Probation Service.

History

East Sutton Park Prison is based in and around an Elizabethan brick house, East Sutton Park, dating from 1570 and overlooking the Weald of Kent. The building was requisitioned at the start of World War II, first opened as a borstal for girls in 1946, then was re-registered to take both juvenile and adult females some years later.
In 2016 a report by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons found "East Sutton Park to be an excellent prison where the very strong
staff-prisoner relationships underpinned safety and a respectful and purposeful approach to preparing women for release. Violence of any kind was extremely rare and the tensions related to communal living were usually resolved through informal mediation rather than formal disciplinary processes".

The prison today

Accommodation at the prison is divided into 66 rooms of varying sizes. Work at the prison for inmates includes farm work, horticulture, meat processing and catering. East Sutton Park also offers training courses and physical education. Approximately half the prison population work in the community.

Notable former inmates