Magilligan Prison

At its last full inspection (September 2025; report published March 2026), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were good for safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release. It held 496 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 502.

Read our story Read the inspection report

Healthy prison tests: inspectors grade four areas from 1 (poor) to 4 (good).

1. March 2026 · Full inspectionSafety: good · Respect: good · Purposeful activity: good · Preparation for release: good Read the report (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, opens external site) ↗
2. February 2024 · Independent review of progressFollow-up visit assessing progress against the key concerns from the previous full inspection. Read the report (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, opens external site) ↗
3. February 2022 · Full inspectionSafety: reasonably good · Respect: reasonably good · Purposeful activity: not sufficiently good · Rehabilitation and release planning: reasonably good Read our story

News

Magilligan Prison rated good on all four healthy prison tests

Inspectors found the Northern Ireland prison calm, well led and safe, with very low violence, but raised concerns about misused medication, ageing buildings and gaps in offending behaviour work.

Prison News staff26 Mar 2026

News

Magilligan Prison stayed stable and respectful but drug use worried inspectors in 2022

A joint inspection report on Magilligan Prison, published in February 2022, praised staff for keeping men unlocked during the pandemic but found high rates of positive drug tests and a restricted regime.

Prison News staff28 Feb 2022