Prisons

Two prisoners who had their petition for review of a prison authority decision to prohibit them from making inter-prison phone calls to each other refused have been denied permission to make a further appeal against the decision to the UK Supreme Court.  Charles O’Neill and William Lauchl

A body independent of the Scottish government and prison service should investigate every prison death, a new report published today has recommended. The report of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody follows two years of research, analysis and engagement with families

Scottish Labour has backed calls for a full public inquiry into the 2015 death of a 30-year-old prisoner after being violently restrained by prison guards. Allan Marshall was a remand prisoner in HMP Edinburgh and was days way from release when he died from serious injuries sustained from prison gua

There are now more than 100 confirmed Covid cases at HMP Perth. As of yesterday, there were 645 individuals self-isolating across four Scottish Prison Service (SPS) establishments. A significant number of individuals are self-isolating due to potential contact with a confirmed case.

Nearly 100 prisoners in HMP Perth have tested positive for Covid-19 in a significant outbreak, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) announced over the weekend. Prison bosses said there were 97 confirmed cases on Friday, of which a "significant number" are asymptomatic positives.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has expressed concern over the treatment and care of vulnerable women with mental ill health in Cornton Vale prison. In a new report it highlights the lack of available beds in specific units in Scotland’s mental health facilities and raises critical

A contingency measure to help prisoners affected by drug use during the pandemic is to be rolled out into the wider community after a pilot project was shown to be a success. Last year the Scottish government allocated £1.9 million to support people in prison on prescribed opiate substitution

A new right to welfare, housing and healthcare appointments for prisoners has been proposed by the Scottish Liberal Democrats in its manifesto published today. Research by the party revealed that Scotland's prisons are completely overwhelmed, with the population reaching record levels in recent year

Social distancing guidelines were not always followed at a prison in which six inmates have tested positive for coronavirus. HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland found that staff at HMP Kilmarnock occasionally failed to wear personal protective equipment when they were unable to observe the two-m

Karyn McCluskey explains why the status quo on prison numbers cannot continue. The words you use matter. To give a random example, If I tell you to "stay alert" you might be a bit confused as to what you’re being asked to do. You might not necessarily assume I mean “stay at home as much

The Scottish government and Scottish Prison Service intend to introduce mobile phones in Scotland’s prisons to maintain contact between people in custody and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak. The move follows the suspension of visits to help protect all those within prisons, includi

A prisoner support expert has raised concerns about the function of a law aimed at offering more support to prisoners due for release on a Friday after it emerged only 15 people had benefited from it in three years. Under the Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Act 2015, prisoners due for rele

A replacement for Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison is expected by 2025, the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee has heard. Justice secretary Humza Yousaf and Colin McConnell, chief executive at the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), told the committee yesterday that a deal to buy the land is “

Judges in the Netherlands have refused to extradite a suspected drugs smuggler to the UK over concerns that conditions at HMP Liverpool are "inhuman and degrading", the Liverpool Echo reports. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said: "Since providing reassurances the court has postponed its decision."

Scotland's two privately-run prisons cost the taxpayer a total of £44 million in 2017/18, new figures reveal. The £30.1 million spend on HMP Addiewell represents a record high, an above-inflation increase from £24.6 million in 2010/11.