Myra Hindley to George Michael: Five of HMP Highpoint’s, in Stradishall near Haverhill and Newmarket, most famous and infamous inmates

With expansion plans agreed to increase a Suffolk prison’s capacity by more than half, we take a look at some of the people who have spent time there.

HMP Highpoint in Stradishall, near Haverhill and Newmarket, was opened in 1977 having been built by the prisoners themselves.

The category C prison had expansion plans, which included up to 741 more cells added to the population of 1,259, approved by West Suffolk Council in August 2022.

Here are five of the site’s most famous and infamous inmates:

GEORGE MICHAEL

The former Wham! star arrived at Highpoint Prison in September 2010 after being jailed for eight weeks for crashing his Range Rover into a Snappy Snaps photo store while under the influence of cannabis.

He was originally put in Pentonville Prison in London but was moved to Suffolk after just three days there.

And the singer, whose real name was Georgios Panayiotou, finally got his Freedom! on October 12 that year.

MYRA HINDLEY

The Moors murderer was jailed for life without parole in 1966 after her and Ian Brady killed five children, with some being sexually abused.

In 1998, Hindley was sent to Highpoint’s North section, which at that time was the women’s prison on the site.

The serial killer was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds in November 2002 after a suspected heart attack and died there following respiratory failure on November 15.

LINDA CALVEY

Dubbed as the ‘Black Widow’ at the time because all of her lovers had ending up either dead or in prison, Calvey was jailed for life in 1991 after the murder of her lover Ronnie Cook – a crime which she still denies.

The now best-selling crime novelist spent around 17 years in prisons, including Highpoint, before being paroled in 2008.

Calvey’s second autobiography, called ‘Life Inside: The Hard Reality of Prison and What it takes to Survive’, is set to come out on January 4.

LESTER PIGGOTT

Regarded as one of the finest jockeys to ever ride in Britain, Lester Piggott was sentenced to three years imprisonment in 1987 at Ipswich Crown Court.

He was found guilty of failing to declare £3.25m, which evaded around £1.7m in taxes, and sent to Highpoint.

After serving 12 months and being released, Piggott went on to ride winners in the Breeders' Cup Mile in America and the 2,000 Guineas in 1992 – he died in Switzerland on May 29, 2022.

BOY GEORGE

In January 2009, the former Culture Club front man and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! contestant was jailed for 15 months for imprisoning a male escort, 29-year-old Norwegian model Audun Carlsen, by handcuffing him to a wall and beating him with a metal chain.

Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd spent only four months of his sentence behind bars, in Pentonville and Highpoint prisons.

He was released from the latter in May 12, 2009.