A north-east jail was rocked by a crimewave as offences committed by inmates went through the roof.
The rate of offending at Peterhead Prison rose by 260% since the facility began accepting mainstream inmates last summer, a new study has revealed.
The Victorian era jail, which closed its doors for good just before Christmas, won worldwide acclaim for its work as a sex offenders unit.
In 2010, around half of Peterhead’s inmates were transferred to high-security Glenochil as part of preparations for the new HMP Grampian, being built next door.
The remaining 150 were moved out to other facilities in the middle of May 2012. Days later, around 100 mainstream adult prisoners, who came from the north-east corner, were bussed in from the other jails across the country.
Bosses said that staff at Peterhead were fully trained for a change in prisoner type.
Today, the Press and Journal can reveal the true extent of offending at Peterhead Prison.
Statistics released by the Scottish Prison Service, following a freedom of information request, show that between May 2011 and the end of April 2012, staff coped with just 125 incidents.
Over the next 12 months, after the focus of the jail was changed, the figure jumped to 456 incidents.
A further 194 offences were reported between May and October this year. In its last year as a sex offenders unit, the main problem was contraband, with only eight fights and one assault. Since the population was changed, there were 46 fights and 14 assaults. The number of times when a prisoner was reported for disobeying an order soared from eight to 152.
Peterhead’s deputy governor Stuart Campbell said: “An increase in offending was something that we had always expected with a change in prison population and it is something all the staff were prepared for and fully trained for.”
In July last year, drug dealer William Scougall had his three-year prison sentence extended after he admitted an attack on fellow-inmate Scott Edwards at the jail.
Convicted killer Shaun Paton admitted a terrifying tirade against a prison officer in February.
The 27-year-old, who was sent to prison for the culpable homicide of Aberdeenshire man Dean Jamieson in 2006, threatened to attack officer Duncan McKenzie with a hammer and burn his house down with his family inside.
But Paton was told he could not be jailed again for the offence, because he had been “prejudiced” by a prolonged parole hearing, which meant he had already served the equivalent of a seven-month sentence in custody.
Also in February, prisoner Sean Bardrick, who was locked up for a knife attack in Aberdeen, was jailed for eight months after he admitted fighting with officers as they tried to move him to a different part of the jail.
Heroin addict Nicholas Wynne, who was jailed for assault, had his sentence extended when he smashed up his cell and blocked it up with furniture.
In the last few weeks, the jail has been emptied again as the final touches are put to the new prison, which is scheduled to open in March. The 500-capacity HMP Grampian will be the first in Scotland to hold adult male and female inmates as well as young offenders.
A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said: “Robust operational regimes, specific to the needs and requirements of the different categories of prisoners, will be put in place to appropriately manage the diverse population.”