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Island challenge attracted new prison chief

The Island's new prison governor admits he was preparing for retirement before coming here - but was intrigued by the job.

Bob McColm previously held senior posts at a number of UK establishments including HM Young Offenders Institute Lancaster Farms and at Garth, Thorn Cross and Kirkham prisons.

He was also Director of HMP Altcourse in Liverpool - run by private security firm G4S - for a year before standing down in 2014.

The facility was criticised for having high levels of violence, drug use, high use of force by officers and inadequate governance, following an unannounced inspection last year.

Mr McColm had been planning to retire after leading a project looking at how G4S prisons work with community rehabilitation providers and the national probation service.

But the job of running both Jurby prison and the Island's probation service caught his eye - as he told Howard Caine:

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