Prison guards facing unprecedented threats from thugs behind bars after spike in number of gangsters being locked-up
- Trade union chief warns risk to staff has never been higher because of organised crime groups being jailed
- Says the level of threat faced by officers is the worst in the ‘30-odd years’ he’s been involved in prisons
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Prison officers in Scotland are facing ‘unprecedented’ threats and intimidation from organised crime gang members behind bars, a union leader has warned.
Phil Fairlie, deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (Scotland), said the risk to staff had never been higher due to the ‘huge increase’ in organised criminals in the prison population.
Scottish Prison Service intelligence reports have identified 538 individuals linked to serious and organised crime, which is around 8 per cent of Scotland’s total prison population.
Of those, 176 have been linked to 54 serious and organised crime groups.
Phil Fairlie, deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (Scotland), said the risk to staff had never been higher
There is a ‘huge increase’ in organised criminals in the prison population
8 cars torched at jails
Police Scotland launched an investigation after this car was firebombed outside HMP Perth
AN officer’s car has been firebombed outside a Scots prison amid a spate of similar incidents.
Union leaders fear the attacks have been carried out by organised criminal gangs to intimidate staff.
The latest incident happened outside HMP Edinburgh and comes after a car was set on fire outside HMP Perth in July. Six vehicles were destroyed at HMP Addiewell in January.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman told the BBC: ‘We can confirm that an incident took place within the car park of HMP Edinburgh on September 7.
‘Scottish Fire and Rescue were called and no injuries were sustained.’
There have been examples of cars belonging to staff being set on fire in car parks and a number of police investigations are ongoing into threats made to prison officers. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fairlie said: ‘The prison population that we hold at the moment is an incredibly challenging mix of prisoners.
‘There is a huge amount of time and staff resources being used just to manage the huge increase in the organised crime gang numbers that we’ve got inside prisons.’
He added: ‘I think the level of threat and intimidation on staff is unprecedented at the moment. It is the worst I have seen in the 30-odd years I have been involved in prisons.
‘All staff in prisons recognise every day is a risk but there are levels. The number of organised crime gangs that we have got in there raises the level and volume of the risk staff are confronted with.’
In a report released this week, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, warned that inmate populations will hit unprecedented levels by the end of the year.
