The Northern Ireland Prison Service today announced that Steve Rodford, OBE, will be the new Governor of Maghaberry Prison. Mr Rodford, who is the current Governor of Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire will take up post on 20th July 2009. Governor Alan Craig, who was based at Prison Service headquarters in Belfast, took up post on 1 July as the new Deputy Governor of Maghaberry Prison.

The Review Team, which was headed by former HMPS Deputy Director General Tony Pearson, set up following the Prisoner Ombudsman’s Report into the death of Colin Bell in Maghaberry Prison last year, recommended that a new senior management team headed by an experienced prison governor from outside Northern Ireland should be appointed as soon as possible.

Mr Rodford today joined the Prison Service Management Board for an intensive planning meeting which included discussion on action to take forward the recommendations in the Pearson Report. He said that he fully appreciated the scale of the challenge which lay ahead for him but it was a challenge he was looking forward to.

He said: “I am delighted to be joining the Northern Ireland Prison Service. My over-riding priority is to ensure that there is a culture of accountability and care right across the prison regime at Maghaberry and I hope that the experience I have gained from Whitemoor and elsewhere in my prison career will stand me in good stead. I look forward to meeting and working with my new colleagues.”

Prison Service Director Robin Masefield welcomed the appointment stating;

“Steve brings with him a wealth of experience both in managing a high security prison and in dealing with vulnerable prisoners. Maghaberry is a very complex prison and the Management Board and I will give him our full support in his new and demanding role. I wish him and Governor Craig well in their new posts.

“I wish also to thank the outgoing Governor and Deputy Governor of Maghaberry Prison. They have each made a major contribution to the Northern Ireland Prison Service over many years and I am confident their expertise will continue to be well utilised in the future.”

Notes to Editors

1. After spending 13 years working in the Post Office, Steve Rodford (50) joined HMPS in 1988 as a Prison Officer in Wormwood Scrubs. In 1994 he transferred to Maidstone Prison on promotion and later worked at HMP Highdown before becoming Governor of Chelmsford Prison (a local and young offenders prison) in 2003. In 2005 he became Governor of the Category C Mount Prison and in 2006 he took up his current post as Governor of the high security Whitemoor Prison. He was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours List for ‘Services to her Majesty’s Prison Service’. Married with three children and five grandchildren, his hobbies include theatre, horse racing, walking, running and swimming.

2. Alan Craig started his working life in Local Government before going to Rathgael Training School as a Housemaster in 1973. Having worked with juvenile offenders in a custodial setting he made the move to looking after adult prisoners when he joined the Northern Ireland Prison Service as a direct entrant Assistant Governor in September 1983. He was promoted to Governor IV in 1992, to Governor III in 2000 and to Governor II in 2002. Alan has served operationally in HMP Belfast, HMP Maze, Hydebank Wood YOC and in HMP Magilligan. He has served as Governing Governor of both Hydebank Wood YOC and Magilligan Prison. He has also served as Head of Skills training at the Prison Service College and most recently served as a Governor in both Operational and Personnel Divisions at Prison Service headquarters.

Contact Details