Prisoner smashed up cell over torn towel

A prisoner caused over £1000 of damage when he trashed his Perth Prison cell because his towel had been damaged.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that 26-yearold Grant Hunter, of Victoria Road, Auchterarder, occupied a cell in the jail’s separation and integration unit.

Prison officers heard banging coming from the single cell and looked through the observation hatch.

He was seen unscrewing bolts from a chair that was attached to the floor.

Using the metal chair as a weapon, he caused “extensive damage” to fixtures and fittings.

Depute fiscal Lisa Marshall said the bill for repairs totalled £1030.

Hunter was serving a lengthy sentence and expected to be freedon August 16 next year, at the earliest.

But Sheriff Gillian Wade added a further nine months to his jail term. He admitted causing the damage on May 9. Solicitor Paul Ralph said Hunter had been serving a sentence of just over five years.

He had been in his cell and a towel had been draped across the end of his bed.

“For some reason it was interfering with regulations,” said the lawyer, “and a prison officer took it down.”

The towel snagged on something and was ripped.

Hunter said he would have to be reimbursed but the officer left the cell.

The accused unbolted the chair and attacked the spy hole with it.

The lawyer added: “There was no difficulty getting him out of the cell, which didn’t need to be decommissioned. He was back in the cell the next day.”

Hunter had subsequently been punished by the prison authorities with the withdrawal of privileges for four weeks.

He had also spent six weeks in the segregation unit.

Imposing the extra jail term, Sheriff Wade told Hunter he should have been “well used to the prison regime.”