THE governor of HMP La Moye has resigned from her position after just three-and-a-half years in the job.
Justice and Home Affairs confirmed yesterday that Susie Richardson was leaving the prison and that the department was now recruiting for her replacement, after sources told the JEP she had resigned.
Ms Richardson has not commented on her departure, but in a blog post in April 2023 said that she was “not looking to go anywhere else any time soon”.
“We still have a lot to achieve, [and] every opportunity to provide Jersey with the most rehabilitative and successful prison in the world,” she said.
A former deputy governor of Winchester Prison, Ms Richardson joined La Moye in February 2021 to take the place of the acting governor, Nick Watkins.
At the time she said it was an “absolute privilege to be serving the community of Jersey in the role of prison governor”.
Ms Richardson quickly introduced major changes at the prison, from lifting the ban on tea bags – which were previously prohibited to prevent prisoners from trying to smoke them – to strengthening an internal prison council that allowed inmates to hold prison authorities to account.
“Prisoners drive that meeting, and keep all the records, and hold us to account for actions […] It’s really well-embedded and brilliant,” she told the magazine Inside Time.
She was also known for her focus on educational resources for prisoners, and initiatives including providing the opportunity for prisoners to record music.
The JEP reported in March on Songs of Freedom, an album produced by Jersey inmates as part of a collaboration between non-profit organisation The Moving Arts Collective and UK-based music charity Finding Rhythms. The first live performance in the prison’s history also took place last year under her stewardship.
In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Justice and Home Affairs Department confirmed that the Prison Governor had decided to leave her post “after three-and-a-half-years’ dedicated service to the Government of Jersey and the prison”.
The department explained that the deputy governor would continue to provide leadership of the Prison Service “during any recruitment process that may take place”.
Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat said: “I and my team at Justice and Home Affairs would like to thank Susie for her loyal service as prison governor and for her commitment and contribution, and that of her family, to the Island and its community. We wish her all the very best for the future.”
