A prison that was once the UK's most overcrowded prison will be demolished this summer - seven years after the facility closed its doors forever.
HMP Kennet, the former Category C Men’s prison in Maghull, opened in December 2007 and quickly gained a reputation for overcrowding and drug-taking - with one in four prisoners testing positive for drugs in random tests in 2015/16.
It was shut down in 2016 by then-justice minister Michael Gove, who described it as "one of the most expensive category C prisons in the country".
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It now faces the wrecking ball following the significant development of the nearby Maghull Health Park, a high-security health facility which treats mental health and learning disability patients.
Mersey Care said the sight of the decaying property was unsettling for some of the most vulnerable patients, and so the £1.5m demolition of the site was agreed with an expected completion date of February 2024.
Elaine Darbyshire, MerseyCare’s executive director of estates and communications, said: “Over the last decade, Mersey Care and the NHS have invested tens of millions of pounds into Maghull,” said Elaine Darbyshire, Mersey Care’s Executive Director of Estates and Communications.
“We’ve created an impressive concentration of highly skilled and experienced staff and innovative services, as well as building two new hospitals and our internal pharmacy service. These sit alongside the existing Ashworth Hospital and Trust conference facilities.
“Maghull Health Park is a stunning therapeutic environment, with a focus on integrating physical and mental health care and moving patients on through services, with beautiful buildings, landscaping, artwork, and exercise facilities. Sitting alongside all this is a decaying prison building which we’re delighted will now be cleared.”
Following the demolition, the prison site will be landscaped as part of Maghull Health Park’s development.
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