Inside safe prison Peter Murrell expected to serve sentence

It houses some of the country’s most notorious criminals, including sex offenders and paedophiles who cannot be placed alongside mainstream inmates.

However, the jail is sectioned off, with a designated area also allocated for “non-offence protection” prisoners – this is for inmates who are at risk with the general population, but for reasons unrelated to their specific crime – police officers, politicians, celebrities, and whistleblowers.

Prison expert Jim Watson told The Herald it is the “obvious” location for Murrell, who pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP over a 12-year period while employed as the party’s chief executive.

HMP Dumfries (Image: HMP Dumfries)

He is also the estranged husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and there are fears he could be at risk of coercion if placed with other prisoners due to his “celebrity” status.

So, what is it like in HMP Dumfries, highly-regarded as the prison with the best conditions in Scotland?

The secret garden

Behind the walls of HMP Dumfries lies a five-acre “therapeutic wellbeing” garden where inmates can grow fruit and vegetables including potatoes, onions, tomatoes, raspberries, apples and pears, to name a few.

The items produced there go into the kitchen and are used for the prison community, giving inmates a “feeling of self-worth by giving something back to the prison and community”, according to the Dumfries and Galloway Sustainable Food Partnership.

The garden at HMP Dumfries (Image: HMP Dumfries)

Inmates also have a wellness area, where they built a pagoda – a tiered tower representing meditation. There are ponds with wildlife and fish and a sensory area for “quiet contemplation”.

Parkruns and cookery

Peter Murrell used the SNP funds to purchase expensive cookery sets and while prison will be a far cry from that luxury lifestyle, Ms Sturgeon’s estranged husband would be able to invite his family into the prison to cook and eat a meal in a specially-set up kitchen which protects family relationships while inmates serve their jail sentence.

Murrell can also join inmates on a 5k jog by taking part in the Jessiefield parkrun – named after the prison’s nickname. It would take around 12 laps to complete and although the prison is surrounded by CCTV and barbed wire, the parkrun operates the same as the 80 other events in Scotland.

It reportedly draws in up to 20 runners each Saturday and seven to 10 volunteers who time keep or stay with the last runner.

HMP Dumfries (Image: HMP Dumfries)

Runners can also track their times and log personal bests.

The cells

Many of the cells inside HMP Dumfries can result in inmates sleeping on metal bunk beds and sharing cells with up to four other men. It is understood around 40 cells do not have their own toilets, with men having to ring a bell to access the facilities due to the old nature of the building.

It has been suggested, though, that Murrell may be placed in a separate area due to his high-profile status, with Mr Watson stating there are six such cells.

While it is safer, and more segregated, the out-of-cell time is more restricted because of the challenges of managing a smaller, isolated group.

The HMP Dumfries cells. (Image: HMP Dumfries)

Notorious inmates

Scottish actor Kevin Guthrie, known for starring in Sunshine on Leith and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021.

He was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman by performing a sex act without her consent and while she slept at a party in Glasgow, in 2017.

He was placed in HMP Dumfries because of his status but an appeal court reduced his term to two years, resulting in his early release.

Francis Moore, who abused three children over more than 20 years while serving as a priest in the Catholic Church, was sent to Dumfries.

He was jailed for eight years in 2018, aged 82 but died of Covid-19 during an outbreak.

Ex-RAF serviceman Gordon Pinkerton was also convicted of historic child sex offences and was sentenced to 15 years in 2013 for abusing six young girls over almost 50 years. He also died in the jail of Covid-19.