Red Bank Secure Children's Home



Red Bank Secure Unit (more commonly referred to as Red Bank), part of Red Bank Community Home, was one of several English Local Authority Secure Children’s Homes (a juvenile detention facility) located in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. It opened in 1965, when it was one of three such units, and accepted both boys and girls. The unit closed in May 2015.

In 1990, when it housed 26 boys and young men convicted of serious crimes including murder, rape and arson, John Evans, the local member of parliament, described its work as "excellent and valuable" and said, "the special unit is not a harsh place, but it has rules that must be adhered to. The young people learn self-control and discipline in an affectionate environment that is sensitive to their special needs." It later specialised in accommodating child sex offenders. In 2009, it was one of nine secure children's homes in England.

Since the 2015 closure, it has been alleged that at least one of the former care units were being used as a police training establishment.

It is now a school for SEMH children called Willow Bank

Notable inmates

 * Mary Bell, from 1968 to 1973. Bell was transferred to Red Bank secure unit where she was the only female among approximately 24 inmates. Bell would later claim that she was sexually abused by a member of staff and several inmates while incarcerated at this facility, claiming the sexual abuse began when she was 13.
 * Jon Venables, from 1993 to 2001, in Vardy House, a small eight-bedded unit. Venables was one of James Bulger's killers. Despite initial problems, Venables was said to have eventually made good progress at Red Bank, resulting in him being kept there for the full eight years, despite the facility only being a short-stay remand unit. Allegations that a female employee of the unit had engaged in sexual activity with Venables while he was imprisoned there were widely reported in 2011.