THE ‘most remarkable press conference in the history of the Scottish prison system’ (in the words of this newspaper) took place in the exercise yard of the Special Unit at Barlinnie on September 28, 1981. Twenty-five journalists met, and fired questions at, four prisoners who had at one time been among the most disruptive in Scotland. The questions centred on everything from the philosophy of penal reform to allegations that the unit was a soft option for hard men.

“It was a remarkable experience,” wrote the Herald’s Anthony Finlay and Murray Ritchie, “to stand chatting to these once-violent men as the top officials of the prison service looked on apprehensively lest someone said the wrong thing. They need not have worried. In the event even the bluntest questions were handled with an impressive maturity by the prisoners ... In a sense this was a coming-of-age party for the Special Unit. It has at last matured. The days of the Jimmy Boyle cult are over...”

Prisoners in the Unit were allowed to transform their cells into comfortable bed-sitters, with televisions, stereo equipment, radios, books, paintings and ornaments. On the surface, the Herald added, the unit, with its colourful murals, sculpture displays, courtyard garden and tropical fishtank, did not convey the oppressive atmosphere of the prison system where such potentially violent men would normally be locked up.

But what had changed was that the Unit was simply more confident. There was now a consensus between the prison department and the inmates that the unquestionable basis of the Unit’s success was mutual understanding, which came through the determination of the officers, all volunteers, to convince dangerous prisoners that violence was pointless.