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Entrance to Wormwood Scrubs prison

Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B British local prison (i.e. an establishment that receives prisoners from the courts, either on remand or after sentencing). It is located on the south of Wormwood Scrubs in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was built in the 1880s, using prison labour. Until 1902, it housed both male and female prisoners. It currently has accommodation for 1256 prisoners in five wings. There have been numerous 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 inquiry into the rioting blamed much of the difficulties on failings in the prison management. The prison governor, John McCarthy, had quit before the rioting. He had described Wormwood Scrubs as a "penal dustbin" in a letter to The Times.

In the 1990s, a police investigation into allegations of staff brutality at the prison resulted in the suspension of 27 prison officers and the convictions of six for assault (three of whom later won appeals against their convictions). The Prison Service paid over £3 million in out-of-court settlements with ex-prisoners who had alleged brutality. At the same time, David Ramsbotham, Chief Inspector of Prisons, delivered a damning report on the conditions and regime in which he gave the prison 12 months to improve or face closure. Since then, the Prison Service has poured resources and relocated its most talented governors to tackle the prison's problems. Subsequent inspections have generally been favourable, and the prison is now held to be one of the better local prisons in the UK.

The nearest tube station is East Acton.

CBBC's The Slammer features Wormwood Scrubs Prison in the titles.

In films set in Britain, when 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

It is also mentioned in The Jam's hit song, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and Billy Bragg's 'Rotting on Remand' from the Workers Playtime album.

Comedian Spike Milligan recorded a song called "The Wormwood Scrubs Tango", about an elderly car thief who lands in the prison.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards spent thirty hours at Wormwood Scrubs following a drug conviction in 1967. (He was released on appeal, and his conviction was later overturned.)

• George Blake

• 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

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