Alert as number of prisoners held on remand soars by 40%

● Holyrood debate as new figures show the Scottish prison population at four-year high

Scotland’s jails are the most crowded they have been for four years, with a dramatic rise in those on remand driving up the prison population, it has emerged.

Concern over the number of prisoners held in Scotland will be raised at Holyrood today when Labour quotes its analysis of official data.

Labour will tell MSPS there were a total of 7,804 people behind bars last month, the highest figure recorded since August 2014 when there were 7,844 prisoners.

The 7,804 figure represents a 9 per cent increase since December 2016 when the figure was 7,185.

Further analysis of the Scottish Prison Population figures reveals the number of individuals held on remand increased by 40 per cent over the same period.

The figures showed last month