Responses to freedom of information requests reveal that the number of inmates who have broken prison rules increased from 6,017 in 2022 to 6,659 in 2023 and reached a peak of 6,904 in 2024. There have already been 4,556 prisoners who have broken the rules in the first seven months of 2025. 

The figures also reveal that the number of individual rule breaks increased by 44 per cent between 2022 and 2024 – rising from 22,318 rule breaks in 2022 to 32,128 in 2024. There have been 99,990 rule breaks between January 2022 and July 2025.

Some prisoners have racked up huge numbers of breaches, with one breaking the rules 143 separate times. This comes after it was revealed that one in five inmates released early this year had broken prison rules while behind bars.

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr MSP said: “No inmate who is found breaking prison rules should be considered for early release. At least somewhere in the justice system criminals need to realise that actions have consequences.

“These alarming figures are symptomatic of a prison system being utterly failed by a complacent SNP government making up policy on the hoof.

“If prisoners are willing to break the rules in the controlled environment of a prison, then they will have no problem breaking the law and endangering communities when they are back on the streets.

“The rising number of rule breaches shows clearly that prisoners feel emboldened to do whatever they want behind bars, knowing their actions won’t impact on their prospects of early release under a government desperate to cover its long-term failures with short-term, knee-jerk responses.

“Victims will feel that justice isn’t being served but this also shows that the SNP aren’t even equipping our prisons to properly rehabilitate offenders.”