A harrowing incident in which a baby died in Europe's largest women's prison, with the 18-year-old mother giving birth in her cell alone despite repeated calls for help, "should never have happened", a watchdog has said. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) for England and Wales yesterday publi
Prison
The Scottish courts should make greater use of video-link technology to reduce the number of people in custody being brought to court for short procedural appearances, prison inspectors have said. In a new report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) said there had been an increase in cou
Children, families and friends have had around 18,000 ‘virtual visits’ with prisoners in Scotland in the six months since secure online conferencing was rolled-out across the country. The introduction of virtual visits, alongside the provision of mobile telephone handsets with appropriat
The average daily prison population rose sharply in 2018-19 and 2019-20 despite fewer people being imprisoned, according to statistics published by the chief statistician today. Following several years of steady decline, the average daily population in Scotland’s prisons rose from 7,464 in 201
HMP Barlinnie is “no longer fit for purpose”, according to prison inspectors. HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland found that the prison's holding cells, “first condemned 25 years ago”, are still in use and that they may fall foul of human rights law.
The Scottish Human Rights Commission has written to Holyrood's Justice Committee to highlight concerns about measures being taken in prisons during the pandemic. The commission expressed concern that the current conditions being experienced by some people in Scottish prisons could amount to inhuman
Regulations to allow a limited number of short-term prisoners nearing the end of their time in custody to be released early have been laid in Parliament to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme is limited to those sentenced to 18 months or less and who on 4 May have 90 days or less left t
A criminologist has suggested that Scotland will face prison riots if inmates are not afforded any coronavirus protection. Twelve people died in riots in Italian jails last month after prisoners objected to restrictions on visits.
The Scottish members of the UK National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) have today written to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, highlighting efforts to uphold the rights of people in detention and deprived of their liberty during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among the recommendations in the letter, signed by Jud
The high rate of life imprisonment in Scotland is driven by both increased punitiveness and attempts to reduce the risk that serious crime poses to society, according to a new academic paper. More people are serving life sentences in Scotland as a proportion of the national population than in any ot
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has thanked Colin McConnell for his work as chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) following his decision to retire later this year. Mr McConnell has led the SPS since May 2012, following a career in prisons in Scotland, England and Wales and Northern Ire
Developing a contingency plan for HMP Barlinnie in the event that it fails must be of the highest priority for the Scottish Prison Service, Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee has said. Given the condition of Scotland’s prisons in general, the Scottish government and the SPS must
Plans to build a replacement for Barlinnie Prison on derelict land at Provanmill have taken a step forward with the submission of an application to Glasgow City Council.
Work as part of the redevelopment of Cornton Vale women's prison could begin next month. Documents in the planning process for the jail show that the Scottish Prison Service and contractor Morrison Construction aim to start in February.
The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has concluded that real-terms increases in the revenue and capital budgets for the Scottish Prison Service are needed for 2020/21. The committee is also calling for changes to the post-conviction landscape in Scotland.