Shelton’s ‘liberal regime’

INMATES at Shelton Abbey could walk out the gates of the open prison if they wanted. There are no high fences or walls surrounding the country house-style Wicklow estate.

“You can come and go as you please. If you wanted to walk out, you could walk out,” said one prison officer. Only a handful of prisoners have absconded, most famously the Jennifer Guinness kidnapper John Cunningham, who fled the facility in 1996, ten years into a 17-year sentence.

All of the inmates, who are evaluated as suitable for transfer, are coming close to the end of their sentences, and many are on day release. Although there’s a certain element of trust, for most there is little incentive to walk out the gates and risk being sent back into the main prison system.