By Bill Heaney
The jailing of hundreds of Scottish gangsters has left prison staff playing what has been described as “a daily game of chess” as they try to keep violent rivals apart.
The Scottish Prison Service says more inmates are being held in segregation than ever before, amid a rise in attacks linked to serious organised crime groups.
The service’s chief executive says the recent gangland feud in central Scotland has raised the temperature behind bars, and that staff are carrying out “a heroic task” in overcrowded jails.
The Prison Officers’ Association says many of its members have been left fearing for their safety because of threats and intimidation from gang-affiliated criminals.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish government was aware of the impact of the rise in inmates and organised crime on the prison system, and was working with partners to reduce the harm caused.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives are demanding that inmates who break prison rules be exempt from early release, in response to a surge in jail rules breaches.
The number of Scottish prisoners who have broken prison rules has increased every year since 2022, with almost 100,000 rule breaks in that time, according to new figures obtained by the Tories.
Freedom of Information requests reveal that the number of inmates who have broken prison rules increased from 6,017 in 2022 to 6,659 in 2023 and reached a peak of 6,904 in 2024. There have already been 4,556 prisoners who have broken the rules in the first seven months of 2025.
The figures also reveal that the number of individual rule breaks increased by 44% between 2022 and 2024 – rising from 22,318 rule breaks in 2022 to 32,128 in 2024. There have been 99,990 rule breaks between January 2022 and July 2025.
Some prisoners have racked up huge numbers of breaches, with one breaking the rules 143 separate times. This comes after it was revealed that one in five inmates released early this year had broken prison rules while behind bars.
Shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr, pictured left, has condemned the “complacent” SNP government for letting down victims and endangering communities by letting rule-breakers out early.
He said: “No inmate who is found breaking prison rules should be considered for early release.
“At least somewhere in the justice system criminals need to realise that actions have consequences.
“These alarming figures are symptomatic of a prison system being utterly failed by a complacent SNP government making up policy on the hoof.
“If prisoners are willing to break the rules in the controlled environment of a prison, then they will have no problem breaking the law and endangering communities when they are back on the streets.
“The rising number of rule breaches shows clearly that prisoners feel emboldened to do whatever they want behind bars, knowing their actions won’t impact on their prospects of early release under a government desperate to cover its long-term failures with short-term, knee-jerk responses.
“Victims will feel that justice isn’t being served but this also shows that the SNP aren’t even equipping our prisons to properly rehabilitate offenders.”
Meanwhile, the SNP Government has been blasted for failing to get to grips with a drugs crisis within Scotland’s prisons after new figures revealed a rising number of drug seizures behind bars.
Criminals are getting smarter with how to get illicit substances into jails, using the likes of drones and drug-soaked envelopes and items.
Drones were used 65 times to fly drugs into jails in 2024 – when six inmates died from overdoses. There have been dozens of hospitalisations reported in the last few months due to drug misuse as guards struggle to tackle widespread abuse of illegal substances such as heroin, street valium and cocaine.
The Scottish Prison Service confirmed in a freedom of information response the number of inmates who were caught with drugs had increased by almost 1,000 in just two years. It rose from 1,448 in 2022 to a high of 2,212, which was also up from 2023 when there were 2,188 incidents reported and 5,848 overall in the last three years.
Prisoners at HMP Low Moss were the worst offenders in 2024, with 754 reported. That jail was followed by HMP Addiewell, HMP Edinburgh, HMP Perth and HMP Shotts rounding out the top five.
“Whether it’s via drug-soaked mail or drones, the Nationalists are always several steps behind the criminals when it comes to intercepting narcotics. They need to provide dedicated prison officers with the resources required to tackle this growing crisis – including more sniffer dogs, better technology and more robust security.”
Drug use is reportedly widespread in some of the country’s most notorious jails. Five prisoners were taken to hospital on Christmas Day, with 35 inmates at HMP Glenochil being identified as being under the influence. It is thought the drugs were delivered to the jail using illegal drones, with weapons and mobile phones also seized.
Overall drug incidents so far this year total more than 1,100. And they are blamed for a spike in overdose emergencies. Paramedics received 109 call-outs in 2023/24 — up 76% on the previous year. In a bid to tackle this, grilles are being installed at some sites, but will cost £8m to roll out everywhere.
The Scottish Prison Service have had to deal with a stagnant budget from the Scottish Government in recent years which has not been enough to upgrade Victorian-era jails.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Any attempt to bring illicit substances into our establishments, poses a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of those in our care. Our staff work hard to keep our establishments safe and secure, using all technological and intelligence tools available to prevent this wherever possible. We continue to work with Police Scotland, and other partners, to take action against those who attempt to breach our security.”
The number of Scottish prisoners who have broken prison rules has increased every year since 2022. The number of prisoners who have broken prison rules increased from 6,017 in 2022 to 6,659 in 2023 and reached a peak of 6,904 in 2024. There have already been 4,556 prisoners who have broken the rules in just the first 7 months of 2025. (SPS FOI, 29 July 2025, available upon request)
The number of individual rule breaks increased by 44% between 2022 and 2024. Individual rule breaks rose from 22,318 rule breaks in 2022 to 30,926 in 2023 and hit a peak of 32,128 in 2024. There have been 14,618 rule breaks in the first 7 months of 2025 and 99,990 total rule breaks between January 2022 and July 2025. (SPS FOI, 29 July 2025, available upon request)
Some prisoners have racked up huge numbers of rule breaks with one breaking the rules 143 separate times. Out of those who are still in custody, those with the top five highest number of rule breaks had broken the rules 143 times, 111 times, 105 times, 98 times, and 94 times. (SPS FOI, 29 July 2025, available upon request)
1 in 5 prisoners released early this year had broken prison rules behind bars. 312 prisoners were released early in February and March 2025 by the SNP Government, but 60 of these had broken prison rules while behind bars. (STV News, 8 April 2025, link)
1 in 10 prisoners released early in June and July 2024 were back behind bars within weeks for committing crimes. 477 prisoners were released early in Summer 2024 and 57 were back in prison within weeks, with 12 only out for 10 days or less. They were returned for crimes including non-sexual crimes of violence, damage and reckless behaviour, and crimes against society. (Emergency Early Release – September 2024 Data Analysis, 2 October 2024, link)
There are over 250 assaults on prison staff by inmates every year in Scotland. There have been 2,562 prisoner-on-staff assaults over the past decade, with an average of 256 a year. At the Government-run HMP Barlinnie, there have been nearly 3,000 assaults recorded since 2015/16. This includes 2,601 by one prisoner against another, and 365 incidents against a member of staff. (The Scotsman, 28 December 2024, link; STV News, 28 December, link)
Ambulance call outs to HMP Kilmarnock increased by 231% between 2023 and 2024, following nationalisation on 17 March 2024. The Scottish Prison Service revealed there were 106 ambulance call outs to HMP Kilmarnock in 2024, compared to 32 in 2023 and 14 in 2022. This is a 231% increase from 2023 to 2024. There were 49 call outs in the first three and a half months of 2025 alone, which is more than triple the number there were in the entirety of 2022 under private management. (Scottish Conservative FOI, 10 April 2025, available on request).