On Monday 15 April, criminology and sociology students were treated to an in-depth talk from a local Island ex-Prison Guard and Historian. John Kingsbury used to work at HMP Isle of Wight/Parkhurst/Camp Hill between the 1970s to the early 2000s. During this time, he witnessed many changes in the criminal justice system and how prisoners were rehabilitated whilst receiving retribution from society for breaking the law.
John also ran the former prison museum and readily took us back to the early 1800s when the institute was originally a prison for young boys. We heard some horrific stories of 14 year olds being locked up in dark solitary confinement for over 4000 hours, straitjackets and restraints being used on some as young as 12. We were told about how a wing became a women’s prison and how they rioted worse than the men – and insulted a visiting Queen Victoria to the point where she made a royal decree that no royal should ever visit a prison again (which, interestingly, had to be formally revoked when Princess Anne came to visit in the 1980s).
John has worked with the likes of the Krays, The Yorkshire Ripper, the Black Panther and several IRA members. He provided several colourful stories and anecdotes, really giving us a detailed look into what it’s like on the other side of that big prison wall.
