HMP Styal-run restaurant The Clink announces closure after decade
A public restaurant which is run out of a women's prison and operated by inmates has announced its closure after more than a decade. The Clink, run out of HMP Styal in Cheshire, opened in 2015 to offer training and employment opportunities as a way to promote rehabilitation and reduce reoffending. The charity said the restaurant would close on 31 July because it was "no longer viable at this time". Chief executive Donna-Marie Edmonds said: "The decision not to renew our contract at HMP Styal has been made with an incredibly heavy heart."
She added: "The Clink Charity's mission is to reduce reoffending and we have been doing this at Styal, producing outstanding results for over a decade."The decision to close the restaurant had been made due to factors including costs and participant numbers, the charity said. Ms Edmonds added: "Although the restaurant will officially close this summer, our partnership at Styal will be remembered not only for its landmark training outcomes, but as a beacon of hope where women have sought refuge and rehabilitation."As one of those students puts it, 'If it wasn't for my journey at The Clink, I wouldn't be where I am now.'"Hundreds of inmates achieved qualifications through the scheme, with The Clink being named Cheshire Restaurant of the Year in 2024. The charity also runs another restaurant out of HMP Brixton in London.
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Saunders - who was given the nickname 'Wolfman' after living in the wild for three weeks after his escape - then managed to run across the courtyard and over two 20ft high walls to make his getaway. 'When the alarms go off at four o'clock in the morning, and then you realise it's not Monday morning, you just think - oh bugger,' said Neil. 'Everybody had to go up to Broadmoor to sign in and be told where you had to go. 'I was on shift from half past four until half past two the next morning.' Notorious inmates past and present BROADMOOR is has housed hundreds of dangerous criminals over the years. Here are some of the other notorious inmates who've spent time inside its walls. Ian Ball tried to kidnap Princess Anne in 1974 while her car was on route to Buckingham Palace. He wanted to hold her for ransom and planned to donate the £3million to the NHS, apparently, he felt mental health services were not good enough. Robert Napper was convicted of murdering young mum Rachel Nickel on Wimbledon Common in July 1992 in front of her young son Alex. He was also previously convicted of the double murder of Samantha Bisset and her daughter Jazmine in 1993. Napper is thought to be the Green Chain Rapist who carried out at least 70 attacks over a four year period. Charles Bronson, also known as Charles Salvador, is often dubbed as Britain's "most violent prisoner". Infamously, while at Broadmoor he staged a three day protest on the roof, causing £250,000 worth of damage. Neo-nazi David Copeland, known as the "London nail bomber", killed three and injured 79 in a series of attacks with homemade nail bombs in the capital across three successive weekends in April 1999. On his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, he was committed to Broadmoor, although his plea of manslaughter by diminished responsibility was not accepted by the jury. Daniel Gonzalez, then 25, murdered four people and injured two across two days in London and Sussex in September 2004. While at Broadmoor awaiting trial, he tried to bite himself to death and was so violent that he was accompanied by officers in riot gear everywhere. He was jailed for life in 2006 and then killed himself in Broadmoor Hospital the year after. Peter Bryan from London killed three people while on release from various mental hospitals. Once detained at Broadmoor, Bryan killed fellow patient Richard Loudwell, 59, and planned to eat him. Bryan is still at Broadmoor and is unlikely to ever be released. Hundreds of cops descended on the area, with some even coming from as far as Aylesbury. But as it turned out, Saunders had in fact made it all the way to Dorset. He was eventually spotted by a policeman walking along a road, with a fishing rod and blanket in hand. Held in Broadmoor ever since, in 2010 a nurse was alleged to have had sexual relations with him in the laundry room.
