By Lynne Stewart

THE FORMER chief inspector of Scotland’s prisons has criticised the running of open jails as lenient, claiming it is open to widespread abuse by prisoners.

Sir Clive Fairweather said the state of the open estate must be a priority for prison chiefs, who must take tough action on its drug culture by introducing stiff drug-testing procedures.

The open jails are situated in Tayside—Castle Huntly near Dundee and Noranside, near Forfar. He said the management at both had gradually been run down over the years, partly to cover gaps elsewhere in the overstretched prison system.

The decision to run both jails by one joint governor was also criticised by Sir Clive. While emphasising the need for open jails, he condemned the lax attitude towards prisoners, who are taking advantage of the lenient supervision currently in place.

The seemingly relaxed regime was highlighted last month when a Castle Huntly prisoner claimed the jail was awash with drugs and sending inmates there was like putting children in charge of a sweetie shop.

Sir Clive said the next SPS chief executive must get a grip on open prisons by cracking down on drug taking and restoring proper supervision. He was adamant open jails have a role but believes prison chiefs have drifted from the original concept.

“There needs to be a governor in each of the open prisons. There is no real governor in charge for long enough, which is close to criminal negligence,” he said.

“What they have been doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul and they have been putting the emphasis on other (closed) prisons and they don’t have the necessary staff to effectively run the open prisons.

“Drugs use in prisons has become endemic. If prisoners return to the community with a serious habit they are going to commit crime to fund it. We the public are being mugged and mocked and we are liable to become the victims of crime.”

Asked if he thought that open prisons were being used for prisoners to ease congestion at closed jails, Mr Fairweather said he believed that was partly the case but he was also concerned about the shortage of wardens.

“It’s mainly the staff that concerns me—there aren’t that many anywhere at Castle Huntly and Noranside and they are overstretched elsewhere. The next chief executive of SPS has to make open prisons a priority to restore public confidence.

“You are always going to get the odd problem but the number of concerns of late I think is in connection with running down the management and supervision of prisoners.

“Drugs are a major problem on the streets of Dundee, Aberdeen and elsewhere, so when we put people in prison there are going to be problems in jails. With Castle Huntly there is every reason anyone caught with drugs, or having taken drugs, should go straight back to Barlinnie and get someone else up from Barlinnie that’s kept themselves straight.”

He said the only way to tackle the prevalence of drugs is to implement a strict testing system.

“If you have a strong testing system the prisoners will soon get the message. The SPS will say this is not practical but it wouldn’t be hard to implement.

“I think they can and have to take a strong line on not just drugs but alcohol as well. Test all of them (prisoners) when they come off the bus on a Sunday night.”

Sir Clive said he felt there is no drugs deterrent and in many cases prisoners know they can get away with it.

However, despite his criticisms of the current state of the open estate, he said it played an important role but those responsible for running the jails had lost sight of the initial theory.

“Open prisons are a good option. They help keep the prisoner numbers down in the closed condition jails. The guys have something to aim for. Overall, it’s a good concept that has been watered down.

“It wouldn’t take an awful lot to put right. We should have a governor for each of the prisons.

“Prisoners need leadership they know and role models.”

Sir Clive said he kept in touch with some prisoners and some of them phone him from time to time.

“From what they tell me, it’s a viscous circle. People commit a crime so they go to prison, become addicted to drugs and when they are released they have to commit crime to fund their habit.”

Sir Clive’s comments come as Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie called for drugs tests to be mandatory for new prisoners and all inmates should be tested regularly.