Category A Prisoner

Under HM Prison and Probation Service's National Security Framework, a Category A prisoner is defined as one whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, the police or the security of the State, and for whom the aim must be to make escape impossible. The definition turns on how dangerous the prisoner would be if they did escape, not on how likely an escape is. Category A prisoners are held in high-security prisons and pass through 'Potential', 'Provisional' and 'Confirmed' stages before their status is finalised, usually at the first formal review following conviction and sentencing.

All confirmed Category A prisoners are also placed into one of three escape risk classifications — Standard, High or Exceptional — which govern the level of physical and procedural security applied to them, separately from the Category A designation itself. Category A status is not indefinite: the first annual review normally takes place two years after the prisoner's first formal review, and each subsequent annual review is normally completed 12 months after the last, so that the classification can be reduced or confirmed as circumstances change.