Her Majesty’s Prison Glendairy

In September 1994 I attended a judicial seminar on sentencing procedures in the Caribbean in Bridgetown, Barbados. Almost all of the countries in the English-speaking Caribbean were represented, mainly by senior members of their judiciary, politicians and academics. There were also several of us from other jurisdictions who had been invited because of a particular interest or expertise; I had been asked to speak on international standards for the treatment of prisoners. I have little recollection of the details of the conference, other than the fact that at one point there was an animated discussion about the judicial imposition of corporal punishment. This debate was not about whether corporal punishment was an appropriate judicial disposal; not at all. It was about whether flogging a person with a cat-o’-nine-tails administered by lashing across the back was a more effective punishment than whipping with a tamarind switch inflicted on the naked buttocks. It was hard to believe that this subject was even being discussed at a major judicial seminar in the last decade of the 20th century.

But what I most remember about that week was the visit we made to Glendairy Prison. In the Caribbean there are a few prisons with a reputation which reaches beyond national boundaries, invariably for negative rather than positive reasons. These would include Golden Grove in Trinidad, St Catherine’s in Jamaica and also Glendairy in Barbados. Built in 1855 and officially known as Her Majesty’s Prison this was the only prison in the country, with places for 245 prisoners. Throughout its history it had been overcrowded and at times it had held up to 1,000 male and female prisoners. On the day of our visit in September 1994 it was holding 702 men and 22 women. Glendairy was typical of many prisons around the world of the former British Empire, constructed on an imposing scale, externally visible to the community as a constant reminder of colonial power and domination. Inside the high perimeter walls was a sprawling expanse which included a multi-storied Victorian accommodation block for male prisoners, a discrete prison unit for women and an extensive farm.