St Heliers Correctional Centre

St Heliers Correctional Centre
Map
LocationMuswellbrook, New South Wales
Coordinates32°13′40″S 150°54′49″E / 32.22785°S 150.913599°E / -32.22785; 150.913599
StatusOperational
Security classMinimum (male)
Capacity286[1]
OpenedSeptember 1989
Managed byCorrective Services NSW

St Heliers Correctional Centre is a prison farm for men located outside the town of Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia, and operated by the Corrective Services division of the Department of Communities and Justice. St Heliers generally holds prisoners serving sentences under State or Australian criminal law and has a capacity of 256.

History

The property was originally settled by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dumaresq and named after Saint Helier, Jersey. The New South Wales State Government purchased the property in 1945 and it was used as a child welfare institution until its closure in 1986. It reopened as a correctional centre in September 1989.

The centre is largely self-sufficient in terms of beef and vegetable produce and provides the 9,700 prisoners in the other low security prisons in NSW with food. At peak, the centre runs 350 head of cattle.[2] Inmates are also involved in furniture restoration, work in a local abattoir, and help maintain the Muswellbrook Cemetery and Vietnam Veterans Memorial.[3]

The mobile outreach program of the correctional centre has worked on signage and restoration of the Great North Road, a trail from Sydney to the Hunter Valley built by convict labour during the 1820s,[4] and listed on both the Australian National Heritage List and UNESCO's World Heritage list. The mobile prison program was suspended in 2003.[5]

In 2012 the centre commenced a thoroughbred retraining and rehabilitation program in conjunction with Racing NSW.[6]

Notable inmates

  • Rodney Adler[7] – jailed between 2005 and 2007 for false or misleading statements and being dishonest as a director of a public company.
  • Reg Lyttle[8] – jailed between 1975 and 2010 for the murder of 15 people in an arson attack at the Savoy Hotel, Kings Cross on Christmas Day 1975.
  • Titus Day[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Key moments in Penal Culture in NSW 1970 - present". The Australian Prisons Project. The University of New South Wales. 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  2. ^ Andrews, Caitlin (20 June 2008). "Work release". Muswellbrook Chronicle. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  3. ^ O'Sullivan, Colleen (11 May 2007). "Prisoner work". Muswellbrook Chronicle. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Maintenance and Signage". About the Great North Road. Convict Trail Project (Caring For the Great North Road) Inc. 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  5. ^ Corben, Simon (October 2004). "Statistical Report 2003/04". Other Reports. NSW Department of Corrective Services. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  6. ^ Thompson, Frances (3 May 2012). "Rehab for race horses". Newcastle Herald. Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Rodney Adler released from jail". The Age. Australia. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  8. ^ Fife-Yeomans, Janet (23 April 2010). "Mass murderer Reg Lyttle to be released on bail". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Georgina; McPhee, Sarah (26 June 2024). "Titus Day released from jail after appeal success in Guy Sebastian case". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2024.