Sark – one of the four main Channel Islands – is a tiny island measuring just 2.1 square miles, with a population of 500 or so. However, it does have a small prison to match its size.
In fact, the prison on this picturesque island is said to be the smallest anywhere in the world and is still in use today.
This tiny building consists of just two windowless cells, measuring less than 4 square meters.2, and a corridor in front of them about 90 cm wide ran the length of the building. Facilities in the cells included only wooden beds and thin mattresses.
This modest prison was built in 1856, and was only allowed to hold inmates for a maximum of two days. If the crime was more serious or the punishment required was longer, the offender would be transferred to the larger facility on the neighboring Channel island of Guernsey.
One of the earliest inmates was a young serving girl who was imprisoned for stealing her lover’s pocket handkerchief. The story goes that the girl was so afraid of the dark that she was allowed to sit in the doorway, where local women came to visit and knit with her until her sentence was completed.
The last serious criminal held on the island as of 1990 was a French nuclear physicist, André Gardes. He had rowed to the island from France (a distance of 25 miles) carrying a semi-automatic weapon. André Gardes claimed that he was Lord of Sark and that the island was under his control. The day after he landed, he was punched in the face by local police and arrested.
Sark’s police force consists of just two people: a constable and an assistant (or technician). And their island job is pretty busy. In fact, last year, assistant constable Mike Fawson said the island was “infested” with crime and that officers should be armed with pepper spray to deal with suspects. He said the crimes ranged from drug dealing and alcohol-fueled violence to drunk driving.
However, the “drunken driving” offence here is quite unique, as cars are banned on Sark. Locals are allowed to drive tractors, operate horse and carts, and ride bicycles; the elderly and disabled can drive battery-powered carts.
In his report to Sark's Chief Constable, Assistant Fawson recommended background checks on all arrivals to the island. He wrote: "Sark has in the past (and present) been plagued by people with criminal records. In many cases we have no information about them until they have committed a crime."
In addition to this famous prison, Sark Island is also a beautiful tourist destination, shaped like a giant shell covered with lush forests of gorse and honeysuckle. This is the last feudal island nation of Western Europe ruled by Queen Elizabeth I. The difference in landscape, culture, and people has made Sark one of the attractive tourist destinations.
Tourists coming to Sark Island will immediately notice the peacefulness of Sark compared to modern countries. In Sark, there are no airports, cars or paved roads, life on Sark Island is not affected by the modern world. You will be overwhelmed by the vast space of the ocean and enjoy each wave murmuring over the rough rocks, creating white foam.
Although only three miles long, Sark offers excellent opportunities for horseback riders, walkers, cyclists, fishermen, sailors and divers. Wrasse, pollock, mullet, sablefish, sea bass and bream can be caught from the cliffs. Mackerel, flounder, dogfish and eels are also abundant offshore.
The rhythm of life on the island is so relaxed that anyone who comes here feels like time flies by so quickly...
