HM Prison Stafford is a Category C men's prison, located in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. In 2014 it became a sex offender-only jail. History His Majesty's Prison at Stafford was originally constructed and opened in 1793. It was substantially enlarged by a building development programme of works in the 19th century. HMP Stafford became a sex offender-only prison in 2014. Early history In 1812, forger William Booth was publicly executed outside the jail. A badly-tied rope allowed him to fall to the floor, unharmed. He was hanged a second time, fatally, later that day. Among its early prisoners was George Smith, who served several sentences for theft in the facility and began his later work as a hangman while still a prisoner, assisting William Calcraft. He officiated at several executions in the prison later in his life, including that of the convicted poisoner William Palmer in 1866. Prisoner of war facility 1916 HMP Stafford was used to incarcerate prisoners of war from the defeated Easter Rising in April 1916. A number of the Republican prisoners later left accounts of their time in Stafford, Closure The facility was closed in late 1916 and mothballed for two decades, re-opening on the commencement of World War II in 1939. Security concerns in the 1990s In November 1998, an inspection report from His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons heavily criticised security at H.M.P. Stafford after it emerged that prisoners were smuggling in illegal drugs for consumption within the facility. Inmates were fashioning strips of paper into planes, then attaching lines to them and flying them over the perimeter wall. The lines were then used to pull packages containing prohibited substances back over the wall. The facility was also criticised for being overcrowded, under-resourced, and failing to adequately prepare prisoners for release. 2003 reports In March 2003, the Prison Reform Trust singled out Stafford Prison for concern over the high turnover rate in its governor's post. The Trust noted that H.M.P. Stafford had employed four different governors in only five years, and that such unstable leadership would not be tolerated in schools or hospitals. The Trust also highlighted prison officers' absenteeism through sickness leave being an issue of concern. In October 2003 a further report from the Chief Inspector praised improvements at Stafford Prison. H.M.P. Stafford was labelled as becoming an effective training prison specialising in helping