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Reading Prison of Oscar Wilde fame closes early | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The last inmate has left Reading Prison as it closes a month early. | The last inmate has left Reading Prison as it closes a month early. |
HMP Reading was to shut on 20 December under government plans to replace four prisons with a super-prison, but a spokesman said all 320 prisoners had now gone to other sites. | HMP Reading was to shut on 20 December under government plans to replace four prisons with a super-prison, but a spokesman said all 320 prisoners had now gone to other sites. |
The Prison Service said it was aiming to avoid compulsory redundancies by redeploying staff or offering voluntary early departures. | The Prison Service said it was aiming to avoid compulsory redundancies by redeploying staff or offering voluntary early departures. |
The prison was the subject of the Oscar Wilde poem The Ballad Of Reading Gaol. | The prison was the subject of the Oscar Wilde poem The Ballad Of Reading Gaol. |
Marcus Piper, who was one of the last prisoners to be released, said: "I was in there for 19 months, it's quite upsetting. There's a good bunch of staff there,... they do a good job. | |
"I'm going to look for a job and sort my life out." | |
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said moving the inmates would cause more problems with new jails not ready for many years to come. | Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said moving the inmates would cause more problems with new jails not ready for many years to come. |
Tourist attraction | Tourist attraction |
He added: "It's a recipe for disaster. These prisoners have been sent to already overcrowded jails. | He added: "It's a recipe for disaster. These prisoners have been sent to already overcrowded jails. |
"We are angry as it is a short-sighted approach to save money." | "We are angry as it is a short-sighted approach to save money." |
He said about 160 peopled worked at Reading with the "vast majority" being redeployed. | He said about 160 peopled worked at Reading with the "vast majority" being redeployed. |
The Prison Service said: "The closure of HMP Reading is part of a programme to replace old, inefficient places with newer, modern accommodation that provides better value for taxpayers while helping rehabilitate offenders and bring down our stubbornly high reoffending rates." | The Prison Service said: "The closure of HMP Reading is part of a programme to replace old, inefficient places with newer, modern accommodation that provides better value for taxpayers while helping rehabilitate offenders and bring down our stubbornly high reoffending rates." |
The Ministry of Justice said some prison officers would be left at the site to help with the "decommissioning process". | The Ministry of Justice said some prison officers would be left at the site to help with the "decommissioning process". |
Acclaimed Irish writer Wilde was sentenced to two years' hard labour for gross indecency after his affair with Alfred Douglas was exposed in 1895. | Acclaimed Irish writer Wilde was sentenced to two years' hard labour for gross indecency after his affair with Alfred Douglas was exposed in 1895. |
The Oscar Wilde Society has called for the building to be preserved, possibly as a tourist attraction. | The Oscar Wilde Society has called for the building to be preserved, possibly as a tourist attraction. |
Since 1992 the Grade II-listed building has served as a remand centre and young offenders institution, holding prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 years. | Since 1992 the Grade II-listed building has served as a remand centre and young offenders institution, holding prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 years. |
The government plans to replace 1,400 prison places in England and Wales with a £250m facility in Wrexham, which will hold more than 2,000 inmates. | The government plans to replace 1,400 prison places in England and Wales with a £250m facility in Wrexham, which will hold more than 2,000 inmates. |