Scotland's prison population reaches new record high

 Scotland's prison population has reached a new record high, despite the emergency early release of more than 500 convicted criminals.

On Tuesday, 8,452 people were being held in the country's jails.

Hundreds of prisoners serving sentences of less than four years have been freed early since November in an attempt to reduce overcrowding.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the rising prison population was at a "critical point" and work was underway to address it in the long term.

Last night the Scottish Parliament backed plans to reduce the automatic release point for short-term prisoners from 40% to 30% of their sentence.

The changes would not apply to those convicted of domestic abuse or sexual offences, and ministers say it could reduce the prison population by up to 312.

The plans were passed without a vote last night after Holyrood's presiding officer Alison Johnstone failed to hear an objection from the Scottish Conservatives.

In October, the prison population size hit its most recent record high of 8,430 which surpassed the previous record of 8,420 from 2012.

Opposition MSPs have accused the Scottish government of mismanaging the justice system.

Scotland - which along with other parts of Britain has one of the highest incarceration rates in Europe - has announced several emergency measures in recent years in a bid to cut prisoner numbers.

Just last year, the government changed the law to cut the point of release for all eligible short-term prisoners from 50% to 40% of their sentence.

Two previous schemes, carried out in 2024 and the spring of 2025, saw almost 800 prisoners freed.

Despite these efforts, the population continues to rise with more people being locked up.

Scotland's prisons were designed to hold 7,805 inmates, meaning they are now accommodating more than 600 additional people - enough to fill another prison the size of HMP & YOI Grampian or HMP Shotts.

Two new prisons are being built - one in Inverness and one in Glasgow - and will add around 450 spaces to the prison estate.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said addressing the issue in the long term would require "bold" and "collaborative" action.

She said: "Scotland's prison population is at a critical point, and last night's vote reflects Parliament's recognition that we must act to ensure our prisons can continue to operate safely and effectively, and deliver important rehabilitative work.

"Moving the automatic release point for certain short-term prisoners from 40% to 30% of their sentence is part of a considered, responsible approach to managing the prison estate sustainably.

"This is an immediate measure, but it cannot be the whole answer."

Constance said work was underway in response to the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission's recommendations, external, which highlighted the importance of using community-based alternatives to short custodial sentences to reduce reoffending.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said it had been managing an "extremely high and complex population" for more than two years, which had an "increasingly destabilising impact" on prisons and staff efforts to support rehabilitation.

He said the change to the release point of short term prisoners would provide "welcome respite".

"We need to see a long-term reduction in our population, so we can fully support people in our care, reduce their risk of reoffending, and help build the safer communities we all want to see," he added.

HMP Woodhill branded unsafe amid rising violence

 A high security prison has been branded "not safe" after inspectors found some of the highest levels of violence, drug use and self-harm.

HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes has been placed under an urgent notification by HM Inspector of Prisons, the second in three years.

Inspectors found it had the highest rate of serious assaults on staff, general violence had increased, drug use was the highest of all adult male prisons and the prison was dirty.

The Ministry of Justice has described the findings as "deeply concerning".

Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said the category B prison, which houses about 800 men, was failing in its role as a training centre.

"Instead men are languishing in their cells and criminal behaviour is going unchecked by often inexperienced officers," he said, adding: "The dealing and use of drugs is rife and there are frightening levels of violence, including some very serious assaults on both prisoners and staff.

The inspectorate highlighted a range of serious failings.

It found rates of violence were the second highest of any category B training prison and had increased, and the rate of serious assaults on staff was the highest in the long-term high secure estate (LTHSE), with about a third involving weapons.

It found drugs were far too easily available and three deaths in the last two years were drug-related. In random drug tests, the positive rate over the past year was among the highest of all adult male prisons.

The report also concluded that:

• Rates of self-harm remained among the highest in the adult male estate

• Some officers were not competent or confident to enforce rules or engage constructively with prisoners

• The prison was dirty and in need of refurbishment

• Woodhill was "fundamentally failing in its core function" as a training prison, with an inadequate Ofsted rating and classes routinely cancelled leading to men spending more time in their cells

Despite most prisoners presenting a high risk of harm to others, offender management, interventions and work to reduce risk were inadequate, the report said.

Planning for releasing dangerous offenders was "inadequate and risked endangering the public", and men being released had only limited support.

Inspectors found delays in taking patients to A&E and acutely mentally unwell men waited on average 191 days to be transferred to a secure hospital, one of the longest delays the inspectorate had seen.

'Troubled jail'

However, the inspectorate noted many prison staff were trying their best in "difficult circumstances".

Many prisoners also felt unsafe, it said.

A new governor was appointed six months ago and prioritised stabilising the prison but the issues at Woodhill were "serious" and "intractable", Taylor said.

He added: "I am in no doubt that the challenges the governor and his staff face will require sustained, significant support from the prison service if they are to succeed at this troubled jail."

Lord Timpson, minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, said the findings were "deeply concerning".

"The prison crisis we inherited has left too many jails breeding crime rather than preventing it — with consequences felt across the estate.

"We are tackling these challenges head on, including at HMP Woodhill where, as the Chief Inspector recognises, staff are already working tirelessly to improve safety, raise standards and reduce violence."

Thousands of probation appointments missed, figures show

 Hundreds of thousands of probation appointments with criminals did not take place over the last three years, new Ministry of Justice figures show.

The data suggests that unmanageable workloads are to blame for almost a third of scheduled meetings being cancelled, with several probation officers warning that this could encourage reoffending and put lives at risk.

Probation officers are responsible for checking that offenders are following the terms of their release from prison such as curfews, not taking drugs and wearing ankle tags that can restrict their movement.

It comes as the government announces plans to reduce workloads, recruit more officers and monitor more offenders with tags.

Figures released on Thursday show that 32% of probation appointments with very high-risk offenders, such as child abusers and rapists, did not take place between 2023 and 2025 because staff had unmanageable schedules - amounting to tens of thousands of cancelled appointments.

One probation officer told the BBC that missed appointments could lead offenders to break the law again because "crucial information isn't gathered and shared".

"If someone is a domestic abuser and they have a new girlfriend, for example, we might need to tell the authorities - but if we don't have the appointment, we don't get that information and that could lead to someone being hurt or even killed," they said.

From September, there will be changes to the way serious criminals who have been released from prison are supervised, ministers say, meaning rapists, murderers and paedophiles in the community will have more one-to-one meetings.

The government argues this will mean probation staff can focus their time on the most dangerous offenders while those assessed as lower risk will require fewer routine appointments.

But some probation staff believe this will move the workload around rather than reduce it.

The probation caseload - the number of offenders staff are looking after - was 241,540 at the end of March 2025, an increase of 9% over a decade. Staff may have multiple appointments with each offender in a week.

The government also plans to introduce legislation which would mean more burglars, thieves and domestic abusers would face GPS and alcohol monitoring - using ankle tags - in what ministers describe as a £100m crackdown on crime.

A pilot scheme costing £5m will also be launched where new proximity monitoring technology will be tested. It will create an alert when offenders convicted of crimes such as domestic abuse and stalking approach their victim.

"This the biggest expansion of tagging in British history and means the most dangerous offenders will now be watched more closely than ever before," Prisons Minister James Timpson said.

"By combining new technology with a stronger probation workforce, we're making sure those who pose the biggest risk are under constant scrutiny to better protect victims and the public," Lord Timpson added.

In England and Wales, some 20,000 people are currently tagged. It is expected the additional tagging as part of the new measures will lead to another 7,000 criminals being tagged.

Ministry of Justice sources told the BBC contractors responsible for tagging were "in the green zone" and up to date with their workload.

Security contractor Serco, which manages the prison tagging system, said it was "very proud to be supporting the MoJ with the biggest increase in tagging in a generation", adding that it had the resources "to deal with the increased number of offenders to be monitored".

The government is also introducing, for the first time, a presumption that all prison leavers will be tagged on release as part of intensive supervision.

Those who have served their sentence inside or have a medical condition prohibiting them from wearing a tag will not be included.

But critics question how possible this is when there have already been problems in recent months with people not being tagged when they should have been.

"As far as we know, people who should be tagged aren't being tagged today so it's fair to ask if they can take on the extra capacity given people's lives are at risk if they can't," one probation officer told the BBC.

This comes before the new sentencing law is implemented where some short jail terms will be replaced by community alternatives to help reduce prison overcrowding.

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, welcomed the government's plans, saying they "attempt to focus time and resources where they matter most".

"We are entering a crucial period as the implementation of the Sentencing Act reforms begins.

"There must be a sharp focus on ensuring the Probation Service can recruit, train, and retain sufficient staff, and give them the tools and support they need - both to keep the public and victims safe, and to turn offenders' lives' around".

Enver Solomon, chief executive of social justice charity Nacro, said tagging "only helps reduce reoffending if it supports people to rebuild their lives by finding stable housing, getting into work and reconnecting with family".

He added that while prioritising supervision for high risk offenders was "understandable", it was also important to look out for those judged as low risk.

"Many are stuck in a cycle of crime driven by homelessness, poor mental health or drug addiction. Without the right support, they are far more likely to end up back in the criminal justice system instead of turning their lives around," he said.

In 2025, the then justice secretary Shabana Mahmood pledged to recruit an additional 1,300 probation officers by April 2026. It takes more than a year to train a probation officer.

Last summer, the BBC revealed government documents showing there was a shortfall of around 10,000 probation staff to manage offenders serving sentences in the communities.

At the time, the government said they had announced a £700m increase in funding by 2028, as well as recruiting more trainee probation officers.

In March 2025, there were 21,022 full-time probation staff in England and Wales, an increase of 610 on the previous year.

Prison officer had behind-bars relationship with convicted drug dealer

A 23-year-old prison officer has been spared jailed after forming a relationship with a convicted drug dealer in Merseyside.
Megan Breen appeared at Cardiff Crown Court where it was heard that she would travel to the Merseyside area to meet the prisoner while he was on home leave and even stayed in a hotel with him to celebrate her 20th birthday.
Breen was working as an operational support grade worker at HMP Prescoed, a category D open prison in Gwent, at the time, the court heard.

She met the unnamed inmate while working night shifts and arranged to meet him while he was on home leave in the Merseyside area, preparing for release.

He had been jailed in October 2020 for four years and four months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and in May 2021 was transferred to Breen’s prison.

Man ‘not had a life’ as 1990 murder conviction quashed

 A man with learning disabilities who says he felt under pressure to confess to murder says he has not "had a life" for the last 33 years.

Three judges ruled that Oliver Campbell's 1991 conviction for the murder of Baldev Hoondle in east London the previous year was "unsafe".

"I could have had a full-time job, been in a relationship, had kids, been on holiday. I couldn’t do that yesterday, but now I can - and plan the rest of my life," he told the BBC.

His purported confession at the time was made up amid the stress of being "badgered and bullied" during interviews, judges have previously heard.

He said he believed part of the reason why he was jailed was that he was being treated as a "scapegoat", and said: "I didn’t put myself in prison, it’s the system that put me there".

Speaking to the BBC, he added that despite his time in prison, he had not lost faith in the justice system, and had never considered ending his fight against his conviction.

"The weight is off my shoulders, but the thing is, there is still someone who committed a crime out there… that’s all I’ve got to say," he said.

The Crown Prosecution Service, which opposed the bid, said they respected the judgement of the court.

"The Court of Appeal rejected 17 grounds of appeal and these convictions were only quashed on the basis of new evidence providing more information about Oliver Campbell's mental state when he confessed to murder," a spokesperson said.

Among the grounds of appeal rejected was a claim of "serious allegations of manipulation, deliberate misleading bullying" made against police officers.

In their ruling, external, Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Bourne and Mrs Justice Stacey, said the court could not be sure how a jury would have considered new evidence of mental capacity and “on that narrow but very important basis, we have concluded that the convictions are unsafe.”

Given Mr Campbell had already spent more than a decade in prison, and more than two decades on licence, he could not have a fair trial where he would be unable to process the information.

• Oliver Campbell: I felt 'under pressure' to confess

• Newsnight: Calls to review 30-year-old murder conviction

Mr Campbell was jailed for life in 1991 over the murder of Mr Hoondle, who was shot dead during a botched robbery in Hackney carried out by two men.

His lawyers and supporters say his confession at the time mirrored what he had watched on BBC's Crimewatch.

Mr Campbell was released on a life licence in 2002 and lives in Felixstowe, Suffolk, with the assistance of a close group of friends and helpers.

His supporters added: "We are all in tears. Ollie's life starts now."

Mr Campbell suffered a brain injury when he was a baby. Experts say the injury has badly affected his memory and general ability to process more than basic information, leaving him suggestible and vulnerable to potential manipulation.

His barrister, Michael Birnbaum KC, told the court earlier this year that there were "ample" grounds to find the conviction unsafe - suggesting he was "badgered and bullied" by police into giving a false confession over his involvement.

Mr Birnbaum said that his client's learning disabilities meant he made admissions which were "simply absurd" and "nonsense", and contained a "litany of inconsistencies" against the facts of the case.

Lord Justice Holroyde said in the ruling: "We accept that, considered in the light of the fresh evidence, the rulings might be different."

He continued: "A jury knowing of the fresh evidence would be considering the reliability of those confessions in a materially different context.

"In those circumstances, we cannot say that the fresh evidence could not reasonably have affected the decision of the jury to convict."

The judge said that the decision would be a "heavy blow" to the family of Mr Hoondle, but he trusted "they will understand that we must reach our decisions in accordance with the law, uninfluenced by emotion".

Officers will continue to support Mr Hoodle's family, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson added.

"The murder of Baldev Singh Hoondle in July 1990 was fully investigated by detectives at the time with a range of evidence brought before a jury who convicted the defendant the following year," they also said.

After Mr Campbell was arrested in late 1990, he was interviewed 14 times by detectives as they sought to build a case to prove that the then 19-year-old had pulled the trigger.

Officers at Hackney Police Station recognised that Mr Campbell had learning difficulties and, for the first 10 interviews, local social services had provided an adult to assist him.

His lawyers believe the purported confession may have therefore been inspired by what he had remembered seeing on the TV, as he tried to end the repeated questioning.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight in 2021, Mr Campbell said the trauma of his conviction had destroyed his life, and that he had lost contact with most of his friends and family.

"It’s disgusting what's happened to me," he told the programme. "That's all I've got to say, it's disgusting how different people out there got away with what they've done to me in my life in 1991."

Mr Campbell added: "I'm an innocent person in the justice system and in the prison system. The justice system put me there."

The quashing of the conviction comes 20 years after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the miscarriages of justice body, rejected his pleas for help - and after two inquiries were triggered into how it had handled the case of Andy Malkinson, who was cleared of rape after a 20-year campaign.

A spokesperson for the CCRC said it referred Mr Campbell's case in 2022, having declined to do so in 2005, "in light of new evidence that his vulnerabilities had not been properly understood or explained at trial".

The commission's review involved speaking again to an expert used at the original trial, as well as a second expert who explained "how a modern approach to assessing Mr Campbell would take a more holistic view that considered his background and experience".

"The Court of Appeal judgment makes clear that its decision is based on fresh evidence from recent research work, and that the understanding of the factors which may contribute to a false confession has increased," the CCRC said.

"It also states that there have been important developments in the law relating to admissibility of evidence and in matters of practice and procedure relevant to a fair trial."

Nurse struck off after smuggling phone into jail for drugs gang

 Kymberley Finn was working at HMP Durham when she became involved in what police described as a ‘complex organised drug conspiracy’

A prison nurse who smuggled a mobile phone into jail for a drugs operation has been struck off the nursing register after regulators ruled she had “brought the profession into disrepute”.

Kymberley Finn, 33, was working at HMP Durham on an agency contract when she became involved in what police described as a “complex organised drug conspiracy”.

The scheme unravelled when officers searching a cell at HMP Northumberland in August 2022 discovered a phone containing messages about drugs and also discovered contraband.
Finn, from Boldon Colliery, was one of eight people sentenced in January 2025 over the wider plot to smuggle drugs into HMP Northumberland and HMP Durham. She was not charged with drug offences but admitted conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into prison. She received a nine‑month jail term, suspended for 18 months, along with rehabilitation requirements.

Following this conviction, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) launched misconduct proceedings. In its January 2026 ruling, the panel said Finn had been “a significant participant in a conspiracy involving several other people to introduce a banned item to a prison” and had knowingly abused her position.

“Taking into account Miss Finn’s significant breach of trust and her own understanding that what she was doing was illegal, the panel found that maintenance of public confidence in the nursing profession required a finding of impairment,” the decision stated. “Members of the public would be appalled if a registered nurse were not found impaired in circumstances where the nurse had abused their position of trust in this way.”

The panel acknowledged Finn’s early guilty plea, her previously good character, and the fact that no patient had been harmed. But it concluded that anything short of striking her off would be “disproportionate to the gravity of the offence” and “insufficient to address public interest concerns”.

Finn has now been removed from the NMC register, barring her from working as a registered nurse, midwife or nursing associate.
The panel concluded that the seriousness of Finn’s behaviour is “at a high level” and her “actions are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register”.

Prison officer jailed for relationship with inmate

 An "immature" female prison officer who had a relationship with a convicted murderer has been jailed for eight months.

Ellis Eyles was 21 and working at HMP Deerbolt, near Barnard Castle in County Durham, when she helped Mitchell Ingham, who stabbed a man to death in 2015, by telling him the whereabouts of a man he wanted to harm.

Their romance was discovered after officers conducted a routine cell search and found an illicit iPhone at the prison.

Eyles was jailed at Durham Crown Court earlier after she admitted a single count of misconduct in public office at a previous hearing.

Investigations found Ingham and Eyles contacted each other with messages and video calls.

Ingham asked about the whereabouts of another prisoner, saying he "will get him done in," Durham Crown Court heard.

Antonia Adie, prosecuting, said phone analysis revealed the pair had been in contact in June and July 2023, exchanging information such as phone numbers and addresses.

'Serious error'

In one message, the court heard Eyles told the convicted killer: "Miss you xxx".

On another occasion, Ingham messaged her: "Phone me babe x".

In response to the text asking for the location of the inmate Ingham wanted to harm, Eyles told him he was in a segregation unit, the prosecution said.

Judge Richard Bennett, presiding, said: "It's clear you were in some kind of romantic relationship with this prisoner."

Robert Mochrie, defending, said Eyles was "immature" when she started at the prison and had only completed six weeks of training.

Half a day of that covered anti-corruption training, he said.

"What you have here is a person of hitherto good character who falls into serious error by virtue of manipulation of the criminal mind," Mochrie said.

He said Eyles, now 24 and from Darlington, had an "incredible work ethic" and was employed by a bank after she left the Prison Service.

Ingham, 25, was sentenced to nine months at a previous hearing for offences related to possessing and using a phone in jail.

He was previously jailed for the 2015 murder of Dominic Doyle in a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester.

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Drug-smuggling prison officer jailed

 A Lancashire prison officer smuggled spice, cannabis resin, buprenorphine and ketamine into a jail by hiding the drugs in tins of food, a court has heard.

Julia Watson, of Cheetham Meadow in Leyland, was jailed for four months after admitting four counts at Preston Crown Court of smuggling prohibited goods into HMP Garth, near Leyland.

The 61-year-old had been working at the Category B prison since August 2015 when she was caught on 20 April 2024.

Officers from the prison's dedicated search team found two carrier bags containing cans filled with drugs.

'Forensic analysis'

Five tins, disguised as branded food products, were found to contain synthetic cannabis - more commonly known as spice, said North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

CCTV footage and X-ray scanner images from the prison's gate security area confirmed the items matched those brought in by Watson earlier that morning.

Other footage showed Watson taking "an unusual route through" the prison and operating a waste management truck which stopped near A Wing before the items were discovered.

A mobile device, handwritten notes, cash, and other personal items were found in a search at her home.

Forensic analysis of the seized tins and packaging identified a fingerprint belonging to Watson on one of the carrier bags containing the drugs.

She was subsequently arrested and suspended from duty.

Insp Brian Morley, from NWROCU's prison investigation unit said: "This operation has successfully exposed and dismantled a breach of trust that threatened the safety and integrity of HMP Garth.

"The prison value of the drugs Julia Watson brought into the prison is up to £95,000, and the presence of such substances fuels violence, debt, intimidation, and exploitation among prisoners."

Female probation officer jailed for improper relationship with inmate

 A former probation officer has been imprisoned for eight months having been caught on CCTV having a relationship with a prisoner. She was shown kissing him during a prison visit.

The 27-year-old woman met the man whilst she was working at HMP Belmarsh, but their relationship did not start until she moved to work at HMP Brixton. She began to message him on an illegal mobile phone he had, and sent explicit pictures to him. She then arranged to visit him several times between February and May 2024 at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire, where staff noticed their physical contact.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct in a public office.