Scottish prisons urge police to divert people from court

Teresa Medhurst told BBC Disclosure that prisons were reaching a “tipping point” and that emergency powers could be needed to release inmates early.

This could happen as early as next month. The prison boss said “all options would need to be on the table”.

At present there are about 8,000 people imprisoned in Scotland but that is likely to rise to 8,700 this year.

“If I have to say enough is enough then it is because we are at a tipping point,” Ms Medhurst said.

“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 added that Police Scotland was being asked to divert more people away from court and that efforts were being made to address the remand backlog.

Ms Medhurst told Disclosure: “At the moment I’m confident that we can manage between now and the spring time.”

She added, however, that projections for March-April made her “less comfortable” that 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 … tensions start to build, people start to fall out … violence among the residents starts to go up.”

Russell Findlay, of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “This warning 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 millions of pounds over budget while the existing estate is falling part,” he said. “Freeing prisoners who are locked up for good reason is not the answer.”