Isle of Wight it hosting three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, all located outside Newport near the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) escaped from the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days, before being recaptured. Parkhurst enjoyed notoriety as one of the toughest jails in the United Kingdom, and housed many notable inmates including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark
Isle of Wight Constabulary Roy Spicer. Isle of Wight Constabulary The Isle of Wight Constabulary was a local police force on the Isle of Wight The first separate police force on the island was set up in 1837 with the formation of the Newport Borough Police. The rest of the island was policed by the Hampshire Constabulary with the exception, from 1869, of Ryde, which had a borough force of its own, from 1869-1922. In 1890 the island was granted administrative county status under the Local Government Act 1888. The Newport force area was enlarged and the force renamed to become the Isle of