SCOTLAND'S sex offender prison is to be emptied and its most dangerous criminals dispersed as part of plans to modernise the country's jails.
Some 150 sex offenders are to be moved from Peterhead prison to Glenochil where they will have to be segregated from mainstream inmates.
Peterhead, which has held and tried to treat Scotland's most dangerous sex offenders, will take mainstream prisoners in the short term in the run-up to the opening of the new community prison HMP Grampian.
The move comes despite concerns raised by Brigadier Hugh Monro, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, last week about overcrowding in Glenochil.
The prison service said space is being created in Glenochil to accommodate sex offenders and overcrowding has been reduced.
Once infamous for riots, Peterhead was transformed into a centre of excellence dealing with sex offenders.
When it was earmarked for closure in 2002, Alex Salmond, the then SNP MP for Banff and Buchan said it would be a "disaster" to shut the jail, which he described as "the jewel in the crown of the prison service".
At that stage it housed almost 300 inmates, the majority convicted sex offenders.
There were calls for the jail to be closed after a spate of riots in the late 1980s, but the community argued it was one of the few major employers in the area.
Following consultation, the SPS announced in 2009 the prison would close and be replaced with HMP Grampian in 2014.
Brigadier Monro revealed sex offenders recently moved to Glenochil as part of the changes have been complaining, as they are unhappy about sharing cells.
He said the problem has been caused by overcrowding due to prisoners being transferred from another prison – and hinted the situation could get worse.
Brigadier Monro said there has been "a disproportionate number of complaints" from prisoners having to double up in the segregated sex offenders' wing of Glenochil Prison, in Clackmannanshire.
He said "fair progress" had been made since the last full inspection in 2010, but added the impact of a transfer of 150 sex offenders from Peterhead to Glenochil's Harviestoun Hall had been "considerable".
He said: "Overcrowding has become more acute since my last visit. The arrival of sex offenders from Peterhead has complicated the situation and needs to be addressed in light of the further tranche due to transfer from Peterhead in the near future.
"Strict separation requirements complicate the regime, causing restrictions of access to activities and facilities."
A spokesman for the SPS said overcrowding in Glenochil has been reduced. He said: "We are currently in the process of arranging the transfer of the remaining prisoners from Peterhead to Glenochil. We have been freeing up space at Glenochil to accommodate these moves. This has been made possible by the recent opening of Low Moss.
"When we have transferred the prisoners we will backfill with mainstream prisoners from Aberdeen to give staff experience with dealing with the mainstream in anticipation of the opening of HMP Grampian."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article