Deerbolt inspection report 2025
Report for Deerbolt Prison
Summary
Deerbolt, situated near Barnard Castle in County Durham, is a category C training prison for up to 474 adult men. Dating mostly from the 1970s, the prison is a campus style institution with 9 accommodation units (although one was closed for refurbishment during our visit) and several purpose-built facilities for the intended provision of work and education. Historically, Deerbolt had specialised as a prison for young adults, but this function changed when the upper age limit was removed three years ago. Despite that, 59 life sentence or long-term prisoners held. When we last inspected in 2021, we found a prison still emerging from COVID19 restrictions that needed to improve. We reported on safety outcomes that were insufficient and regime and activity provision that was poor.