By Steve Bargeton, political editor

SOME OF Northern Ireland’s most dangerous paramilitary prisoners could be moved to Scottish prisons which are bursting at the seams.

Scottish ministers are planning to use the controversial Sewel motion system to give the UK Government the power to transfer “disruptive prisoners” from the infamous Maghaberry Prison which holds Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair to Perth Prison and other Scottish institutions.

The UK Government are seeking these new powers “in the interests of maintaining the security or good order of prisons in Northern Ireland.”

The proposals to amend the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill are designed to punish unruly prisoners.

Clause 12 of the Bill headed “Transfer of Prisoners” states, “...prisoners should be subject to punishment for misbehaviour, and that removal to another jurisdiction might be considered in serious cases.”

The SNP revealed yesterday that the Scottish Executive has prepared a motion to be put before MSPs which reads, “That the Parliament agrees that an amendment should be made to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill to provide for the compulsory transfer of prisoners from Northern Ireland to Scotland and that this should be considered by the UK Parliament.”

An Executive memorandum states, “The Secretary of State (for Northern Ireland) considers the availability of this power to be important to the peace process.

“If the power were ever used, it would only result in a very small numbers of prisoners being held in Scotland at any time.”

It adds that any transfers would only be carried out with the permission of Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Prison Service has said it is “confident” that it would be able to manage such prisoners.

A spokesman for First Minister Jack McConnell said, “It might not happen. And we are really talking about a handful—literally two or three.”

Last night SNP justice spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon, who revealed the move, accused the Executive of planning to import some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world into overcrowded Scottish jails.

“By the Executive’s own admission, Scottish prisons are already heavily overcrowded,” she said.

“Into our packed prison cells, ministers now propose to accept Northern Irish prisoners who are deemed to be disruptive. In effect, they want the power to import some of the UK’s worst terrorists into Scottish jails.”

Ms Sturgeon said if the move helps the peace process in Northern Ireland it should be considered, but criticised the Executive’s use of a Sewel motion which denies proper debate in the Scottish Parliament.

“Instead of having an open debate, looking at whether we have the room for these people and their likely impact on our own jails, they are attempting to side-step democracy by kicking the issue down to London.

“Sewel motions have become an abuse of Parliament. Time and time again they are used to avoid making difficult decisions.”

Last night Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson denied that there had been any attempt to “railroad” the plans through Parliament.

“There has been no attempt to conceal this. That is why we wrote to the justice 1 committee last month asking them to consider our proposal for a Sewel motion,” she said.

“The stability of prisons in Scotland and the safety of staff and prisoners would be taken into account on any decision on a transfer…The Scottish Executive has been asked to play its part, along with other parts of the UK, in providing the framework by which mainland prison services could take a share of prisoners from Northern Ireland in order to further the peace process.

“Any such moves would be a reserve power and only be used as a last resort. If used at all, it might at most involve a handful of individuals. Remember, there are over 6500 prisoners in custody here in Scotland.”

She said the issue had been considered by ministers adding, “It would be of great concern to me if anyone is seriously suggesting that Scotland, as a country or as a provider of public services, is incapable of playing such an outward-looking role within the UK.”