Attacks on prison guards soar by 57% in just a year
SCOTLAND’S jails are being caught up in a rising wave of violence – with prison officers at increased danger of being targeted by inmates.
Figures show the number of guards being attacked in Scotland’s 15 jails has risen sharply this year – sparking calls for an urgent crackdown.
It follows concerns that criminal gangs are ‘intimidating’ staff and attacking them if they do not get their way.
Prison officers have been assaulted 279 times already in 2023 – a 57 per cent rise from last year’s total figure of 178.
Critics last night blamed the mounting violence on the SNP’s ‘soft-touch’ approach to justice.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay said:
‘With the governor of Scotland’s largest prison, Barlinnie, recently warning that a catastrophic failure is likely, the terrifying rise in violence comes as no surprise.
‘SNP ministers must abandon their weak justice agenda which panders to criminals and instead back prison officers with a zerotolerance response to violence and intimidation.’
Figures obtained by the Scottish Mail on Sunday from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) via a freedom of information request show the most violent prison for staff this year was privately-run HMP Addiewell, in West Lothian, where staff have suffered 57 assaults.
Glasgow jails Low Moss, with 37 attacks, and Barlinnie, which saw 36 guards targeted, came second and third. The shock statistics come amid fears organised crime groups operating within prisons are using mobile phones to orchestrate campaigns of intimidation against wardens.
Six staff vehicles were firebombed outside Addiewell in January, a car was set on fire outside Perth jail in July and another was firebombed outside HMP Edinburgh in September.
Meanwhile dire warnings have been sounded about the problem of overcrowding.
The replacement for Barlinnie was due to open in 2025 but has been pushed back to 2027 – despite the 140-year-old Victorian jail operating at 140 per cent capacity.
Governor Michael Stoney warned in August the prison was facing ‘catastrophic failure’.
Last night Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: ‘No one should face violence at work, but for too many prison staff that is the reality they face.
‘Dangerously overcrowded prisons like Barlinnie are becoming pressure cookers.
‘From overcrowding to rising violence, the SNP is losing control of Scottish prisons.’
Attacks by inmates on other prisoners are also rising. Overall 1,392 such assaults have already been recorded this year – surpassing last year’s total of 1,148.
Addiewell and Barlinnie are the most violent prisons, with 233 and 227 assaults on prisoners so far this year respectively.
In September the chief inspector for Scottish prisons warned about overcrowding in her annual report due to the number of inmates likely rising above 8,000 next year.
An SPS spokesman said: ‘We take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and all alleged incidents are reported to Police Scotland.
‘We take consistent and robust action against those in our care who perpetrate violence, and offer support to those affected by it, including our staff.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said it provided the SPS with an extra £29 million this year along with investing £97 million in modernising prisons.
‘SNP must abandon their weak justice agenda’