Hundreds of criminals may have to be released as ‘Scotland’s jails are too full’
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Hundreds of criminals may have to be released because Scotland’s jails are too full and “we cannot take any more”, the head of the country’s prison service has warned.
Teresa Medhurst said prisons are reaching a “tipping point” and emergency powers could be needed to release inmates early, with no restrictions placed on them.
The chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) told the BBC’s Disclosure programme that “all options would need to be on the table” if numbers continued to rise.
There are currently about 8,000 behind bars in Scotland but that is projected to rise to 8,700 this year. Ms Medhurst said the SNP government would have to consider freeing criminals if the prison population went above 8,500.
Ms Medhurst said that Police Scotland was looking at how they could divert people away from court and that efforts were being made to tackle the backlog in prisoners on remand awaiting trial.
She said the prisons are also looking to double the inmates released early on electronic tags to reduce numbers, as well as considering pre-fab housing blocks to increase capacity.
Angela Constance, the SNP Justice Secretary, said ministers were looking at new legislation, contingency measures and investing in community sentences to try to reduce the prison population.
But the number of people in prison awaiting trial in Scotland has increased to record levels, with almost a quarter of inmates having not been convicted.
Ms Medhurst said: “If I have to say enough is enough then it is because we are at a tipping point. We cannot take any more. Prisons become very unsafe.
“The atmosphere, the tension, the volatility increases. Levels of violence increase, levels of self-harm increase.”
She expressed confidence the SPS could “manage between now and the springtime” but projections for March to April made her “less comfortable” the service could cope.
Andy Hodge, the governor at HMP Perth, said: “The pressure of population is forcing us to put more people into one room. That’s a real stretch. Two adult men into a room where you’ve got one TV, one kettle, tensions start to build, people start to fall out.
“Violence amongst the residents starts to go up.”
He said there was already contingency planning which could see the Scottish Government start an early release scheme if the numbers get too high.
When he was justice secretary during the pandemic, Humza Yousaf released some prisoners early if they had less than three months of their sentences to serve in order to help jails cope with staff being off ill.
‘Long overdue new jails’
Russell Findlay, of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “This warning from the head of Scotland’s prison service is deeply concerning but comes as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the SNP government’s negligent stewardship of the entire justice system.
“Long overdue new jails in Glasgow and the Highlands are years late and many millions of pounds over budget while the existing estate is falling part.” But he added: “Freeing prisoners who are locked up for good reason is not the answer.”
HM Inspectorate for Prisons in Scotland published a report last month warning “too many” inmates are on remand and jails are “not adequately equipped” to contain the growing population.
It also said that too many were serving short sentences and prisoners were “spending too long locked in cells without access to purposeful activity”.
Ms Constance said: “I would very much accept that as a consequence of a rising prison population, that that has an impact on progression, it has an impact on rehabilitation. And that is why addressing a rising prison population is also a matter of community safety.”
