Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)

From Freepedia

Wormwood Scrubs is a British prison built in the 1880s. It has a poor reputation and has been the subject of repeated criticism. There have been numerous fights, disturbances and protest acts in the prison's history. In 1979 there was a rooftop protest over visiting rights staged by IRA prisoners. In the rioting, 60 inmates and several prison officers were injured. In 1982, an enquiry into the rioting blamed much of the difficulties on failings in the prison management. The prison govenor, John McCarthy, had quit before the rioting. He had described Wormwood Scrubs as a "penal dustbin" in a letter to the Times.

In films set in Britain, whenever someone is shown being released from prison the front entrance of Wormwood Scrubs is frequently chosen as a filming location. e.g.

• The Italian Job
• Billy Liar
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

See also

• George Blake
• John McCarthy

External links

• Prison Service Information
• Victorian London - Prisons and Penal System
• George Blake escape
• BBC News - Troubled history of the Scrubs
• Amnesty International - Public statement on Wormwood Scrubs
• The Home Office - HMP Wormwood Scrubs - Significant improvements under pressure