warned the prison system is at breaking point……The jail’s population has reduced since earlier this year and staff absences have improved.
Professor John Robertson OBA
BBC Scotland today is headlining a story they have gathered themselves in anticipation of linking it to the Scottish Government in an upcoming Holyrood vote on early prisoner release to reduce prison overcrowding. I’m sure Scotland’s prisons are overcrowded and that that’s not a good thing for anyone but media reporting on them is constantly politicised with a view to undermining the reputation of the Scottish Government.
Here’s another example of that tendency and the necessary counter-evidence to put it all in perspective and in the necessary context, from July 2025:
Meanwhile in England’s prisons:
In the 12 months to March 2025, the rate of assaults on staff was 122 assaults per 1,000 prisoners (10,568 assaults on staff), up 7% from the 12 months to March 2024 to a new peak.
All things being equal, you’d expect the figure for Scotland to be around one eleventh of that 10 568, between 950 and 1 000, but according to the Daily Record and all the other frothing Scottish media is was 350, only just over one third of the level.
Assaults on prison officers in England & Wales were THREE time as frequent as in Scotland.
Prison officers assaulted by inmates three times a day in England’s jails.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
…And the latest addition to Scotland’s prison population once again originates in England!
Rgds,
Graham
From the P&J today:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/6885224/police-dog-sniffs-out-drugs-parcel/
Dealer jailed after police dog sniffs out drugs parcel at post office
Police dog Hamish discovered the drugs at the Royal Mail sorting office.
An Aberdeen drug dealer has been jailed after a suspicious delivery to his address was detected by a sniffer dog at the sorting office.
Police dog Hamish sniffed out the cocaine while on duty at the Royal Mail sorting office earlier this year.
Police intercepted the parcel, which was bound for an address on Torry’s Victoria Road, and opened it.
Hamish alerted to parcel
Inside, they found cocaine hidden within clothing and a paint tin.
Ciaran Kennedy, 23, admitted two charges of drug supply at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after being found at the property where the parcel was bound for.
Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr told the court officers and police dog Hamish had been at the Wellington Road sorting office on the morning of April 24 this year, scanning special delivery parcels.
She went on: “During the scanning process, PD Hamish indicated on a parcel addressed to Victoria Road.
Sniffer dog got a whiff of drugs
“Police, on opening said parcel found what appeared to be controlled drugs. The parcel was then taken to Kittybrewser Police Office for further examination.
“Upon further examination, officers removed a tub of paint which contained a black bin liner package from which was seized: a black jumper, a white towel, wrapping and a vacuum pack containing white powder.”
Police search property
Officers then went to the address named on the parcel and found Kennedy and one other male inside, along with several mobile phones and £2,590 in cash.
Ms Kerr told the court the search also found wraps of cocaine, heroin and a phone which had the word ‘STAN’ written on it.
She added: “This phone number was assessed as being the ‘dealer’ phone for the STAN county line and relates to the handset found in possession of accused Kennedy when arrested by police.”
More drugs discovered
“A Post Office receipt was also recovered,” Ms Kerr continued. “Which was for a package posted from the post office at Balnagask Road to an address in Liverpool.”
Merseyside Police were then informed and they searched that address, finding the package from Aberdeen which had been opened and was now empty.
In total, police seized £37,700 of cocaine and £440 of heroin from the Victoria Road property.
Kennedy pleaded guilty to two charges of drug supply.
Sentencing
Speaking on Kennedy’s behalf, Jenny Logan said her client had been working to pay off a drug debt and recognised the “wrong cycle he had fallen into”.
Sheriff Craig Findlater said it was a “plainly serious” offence, given the quantity of drugs involved.
“In addition to that, £2,500 of cash was found and a handset linked to a county lines group,” he added.
“The background report speaks to the good and bad aspects of you, and a character reference speaks well of you.
“I hope you use your time in custody to reflect – and can put this behind you.”
Kennedy was jailed for a total of 28 months, backdated to April 25, when he was placed on remand in HMP Barlinnie for this offence.
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And where would we be without some human trafficking thrown in for good measure – this from the P&J yesterday:
Rgds,
Graham
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/6885189/man-avoids-jail-over-40k-cannabis-farm/
Man avoids jail over £40k cannabis farm after being trafficked to Aberdeen
Denis Dulla was forced by a crime gang to care for the drugs in an Aberdeen suburb after receiving threats of violence.
A man who was caught looking after a £40,000 cannabis farm in an Aberdeen suburb has avoided jail.
Denis Dulla, then 20, was found at the Cairnfield Place property in Midstocket with 50 mature cannabis plants.
Police arrived at the site – which had a sophisticated heating and ventilation system – following a tip-off on May 24 last year.
Sophisticated set up
Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr said: “On the same day, a cable jointer from Scottish and Southern Electricity Network attended the locus and confirmed the electricity meter had been bypassed.
“He disconnected the bypass and made the property safe.
“Samples of a number of the plants were later tested and confirmed to be cannabis.
“Each plant had a potential street value of between £220 and £810, and a combined value of £11,000 and £40,500.”
Admitted cannabis production
Dulla, 22, pled guilty to a charge of producing cannabis, but not guilty pleas were accepted for supplying the drug and bypassing the electricity meter.
Speaking on Dulla’s behalf, Paul Barnett explained that his client had been brought to the UK from Albania as a teen, accruing a debt to his traffickers, which jumped from £2,000 to £15,000 upon his arrival in the country.
Mr Barnett told the court Dulla was forced to work for his traffickers, initially in London, by being a caretaker for drug farms and “pressure” was applied to ensure his compliance.
Tried to escape from traffickers
“He managed to escape,” Mr Barnett went on. “And evaded the group until 2024, when he was trafficked to Aberdeen under threats of violence, and came under duress.
“He had only been in this caretaking role for two weeks before the police arrived.”
Mr Barnett asked for a community-based disposal for his client and noted that he had been keeping in touch and had turned up to court, adding: “He could have been tempted to lose touch.”
Exploitation by others
Sheriff Craig Findlater said he “just” agreed with the recommendation in Dulla’s background report to issue a community payback order, saying: “I take into account your young age.
“You are still young and have no previous convictions. You had been trafficked to this country and were exploited by others.
“The author of your report recommends a community payback order and I just agree with that.”
Sheriff Findlater ordered Dulla, whose address was given as Hertfordshire, to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work with 12 months as a direct alternative to custody.
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I saw the screengrab of “The governor of a jail that holds hundreds of sex offenders”, and curiosity struck whether it was Baron McFall or Sir Lindsay Hoyle ?
And thus began yet another lesson on how low ‘el Suito’ was prepared to stoop, and the answer came back dachshund…
According to David Cowan’s article https://archive.ph/bChas (no doubt assiduously fact checked 🙄) ” Boss of overcrowded, understaffed jail recalls ‘worst week’ of her career ” on her second week in post “, and this is where the famed HMS James Cook framing comes into play, or the ‘Nick Robinson’ effect as it’s better known.
Even Wikipedia hasn’t cottoned on to the ‘guvnor’ no longer being Natalie Beal, despite from FB, ” HMP Glenochil held its first staff recognition event with new Governor in Charge, Sharanne Findlay, in December “, but do note the “in Charge” in Cowan’s pastiche as it matters, the transition between governors, and puts Andrew Cowan’s piece into some perspective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Glenochil –
You need to scroll all the way down to the second last paragraph for a word from Andrew Cowan’s generic sponsors, SNP opposition naturally, ” The Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour have described emergency early release as a “sticking plaster solution ” – Likely the infamous Katy Clark and Roz McCall which even 100m of elastoplast couldn’t shut up.
I’m still waiting on Baron McFall or Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s response….
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