A prisoner has been handed more time behind bars for attacks on staff at HMP Grampian in Peterhead.
The town’s sheriff court heard that Jamie Ross had been serving time at the prison between 2023 and 2024 when he repeatedly got into trouble with prison officers.
It included both physical and verbal attacks on men and women.
The 30-year-old, who is originally from Edinburgh, was eventually transferred out of the prison to HMP Barlinnie, but was back in the north-east yesterday when he was handed almost two years for his offences.
Catalogue is offending while in Peterhead prison
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann described the series of offences Ross committed while in HMP Grampian.
It included having a sharpened piece of plastic within his cell in July 2023. He had claimed it was being used to keep his cubicle door closed during the night because it “rattled”.
On two occasions, he physically assaulted staff members.
On June 4, last year, he was invited to go outside for exercise, but when guards attempted to have him change into an orange shirt – per regulations – he turned violent and attacked a female prison officer.
“During this time, he became aggressive and forcefully kicked a trolley.
“Thereafter, there were verbal attempts by prison officers to calm him down, but he refused to calm down.
“They ended up on the floor. Whilst on the floor, he made various threats. During the fray, he kicked her repeatedly on the left side of her head, the left side of her body, and her back.”
On another occasion, on April 27 last year, he rushed at a male member of staff while they were in his cell following threats of self-harm and headbutted him in the groin.
Threats and racial abuse followed
Following that attack, on the next day, Ross made repeated racial remarks to a male member of staff.
The man, along with other officers, had attended his cell following Ross falsely activating his emergency alarm.
“As the witnesses stood outside the cell door, he began to shout towards the complainer, calling him ‘dafty’, a ‘mongo’, and a ‘black fool’. He began to shout and swear he was a ‘black smelly b******,” Mr McMann said.
“Thereafter, he stated he would knock the teeth off his ‘black dafty face when he least expected him to’.”
Ross’ abuse continued with repeated remarks about the colour of the officer’s skin while repeatedly spitting at the men through a gap on the cell door.
Mental health issues and a sad history
Defence solicitor Nigel Beaumont, acting for Ross, said his client’s early life had a profound effect on his behaviour as an adult, but he was hopeful of moving on following today’s hearing.
“He was brought up in a divided household,” Mr Beaumont said.
Mr Beaumont described an incident that took place when Ross was nine or 10 and said it had a “devastating effect” on his life.
“His behaviour went to pieces – he was put in special care,” he added.
Mr Beaumont said in addition to being diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder by healthcare professionals, a doctor last year also found Ross to be “psychotic”.
No other option but custody
He is now on several medications to cope with the issues.
“I’m pleased to say that since he was taken down from Grampian to Barlinnie there have been no incidents whatsoever between Mr Ross and any staff members,” Mr Beaumont added.
“Mr Ross has told me that over the last few months, his whole approach to life has got very, very much better. He is not as angry and as inflamed as he was. He is much more mellow.
“He’s very sorry about his behaviour in retrospect.”
Following a 15-minute break in the hearing to allow Sheriff Phillip Mann to deliberate on the case, Ross was sentenced to 103 weeks behind bars.
Sheriff Mann told him there was no other option available to him.
“This can only be visited by custodial sentences,” he said.