By Rachelle Money

SCOTLAND'S prison population has for the first time broken through the 8000 barrier.

On Friday new statistics from the Scottish Prison Service revealed that the figure had reached a record high of 8024, including approximately 340 on Home Detention Curfews.

Last week justice secretary Kenny MacAskill visited HMP Cornton Vale and Barlinnie in Glasgow to witness how staff are coping with record prisoner numbers where he said he had seen the "negative impact" that overcrowding was having on prison staff.

MacAskill said: "In recent weeks there have been daily increases in numbers with new records being set with depressing regularity. On some days this week we've seen nearly 100 additional prisoners entering the system.

"It is of huge credit to Scottish Prison Service (SPS) staff that these trying circumstances are being managed and operational stability maintained across the estate. Their safety must be taken into consideration as our prison population continues to escalate. What is already a demanding job is clearly being made more difficult due to circumstances. I recognise the need for prisons," he added.

"This is not about emptying our prisons simply because of overcrowding. Serious offenders and dangerous criminals who should be locked up are not getting the treatment they need to prevent them from reoffending on release because of the churn created by short sentences for low-level crimes."

Colin Moses, National Chairman of Prison Officers' Association said: "The Ministry of Justice has mismanaged the prison population and will now have to take some very brave decisions to try and cope with the ever increasing prison numbers."

Bill Aitken, MSP Tory shadow cabinet secretary for justice, called for more prisons to be built.

"Clearly we have a problem with prison capacity and we need an additional facility in central Scotland. There is no way to avoid these prison numbers. The number who reoffend while on remand, on bail, is worryingly high and sentencers have no confidence in non-custodial disposals - how can they have when so much community service is not done and fines are simply not paid?"

Former first minister, Henry McLeish, who heads the independent Scottish Prisons Commission, is looking at the impact of jail and the scope for using community service as an alternative.