[2] Belmarsh Prison was built on part of the East site of the former Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, and became operational on 2 April 1991.

[3] In 1991, the Double A Cat prisoner armed robber Ronnie Field, an associate of London gangland boss Joey Pyle, was the first person to be held in Belmarsh's High Security Unit, shortly followed by members of the Arif firm and those convicted of the £10 million Heathrow airport diamond heist.

[4] Between 2001 and 2002, Belmarsh Prison was used to detain a number of people indefinitely without charge or trial under the provisions of Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, leading it to be called the "British version of Guantanamo Bay".

[5] The Law Lords later ruled in A v Secretary of State for the Home Dept that such imprisonment was discriminatory and against the Human Rights Act 1998.

[8] In November 2009, an inspection report from the Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised the "extremely high" amount of force used to control inmates.