Being prisons chief was tougher than SAS

SCOTLAND’S chief inspector of prisons will leave his post today, following a turbulent eight-year career at the heart of government.

Clive Fairweather, who was second-in-command of the SAS during the Iranian embassy siege, said that heading the inspectorate team was more demanding than anything he had faced in the army.

"There have been a lot of ups and downs over the years and the job could be very frustrating," he said.

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"The key difference between this post and the army is accountability. As prisons’ inspector, you are answerable to the public at a moment’s notice and I found that quite harrowing. You are never off duty."

During his tenure, Mr Fairweather fought to improve conditions in the country’s jails, resisting attempts by the Scottish Executive to undermine his authority.

Regarded as a "loose cannon" by the establishment, he found himself at loggerheads with ministers who had failed to invest in the service.

In 1999, he condemned the removal of 14 million from prison coffers which was redirected to other areas of the justice system.

He was also an outspoken critic of the Executive’s plans for further privatisation and denounced proposals to close Peterhead prison.

Roseanna Cunningham, the justice spokeswoman for the SNP, said: "Clive will be very sadly missed. He stamped his authority on that job and set a benchmark for the future.

"He had guts and spoke the truth - regardless of how uncomfortable it was for those in authority."

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, the justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: "He was a very impressive inspector who was thoroughly dedicated and did an admirable job with great efficiency.

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"His contribution will long be remembered by those who want to see the highest standards in Scotland’s prisons."

Earlier this year, Mr Fairweather found himself at the centre of a political storm following his support for Peterhead jail.

He was instrumental in saving the prison after outlining the dangers of closing the world-renowned STOP programme for sex offenders. Prison sources believe his loyalty to the north-east jail cost him his job.

Though a highly-respected figure in the penal system, Mr Fairweather was dropped from his post and replaced by the Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan. It was an open secret at Holyrood that the Executive wanted rid of him and he was told by a senior civil servant to watch his step.

He said: "I was quietly warned that very senior figures had been inquiring how long my appointment might continue."

Finally, in October last year, Mr Fairweather was told that the job he had held for almost eight years was to be readvertised. "I think Peterhead was the last straw and they wanted him out," said a prison source. "Clive has always been his own man, and that needled the Executive. They wanted a ‘yes man’ who would do as he was told, but that was never his style."

Mr Fairweather was on a collision course with the Executive as early as 1996, following a spate of suicides at Cornton Vale, Scotland’s only female prison. He prepared a controversial report which suggested the only way to reduce the number of women dying in prison was to jail fewer petty offenders.

Perhaps Mr Fairweather’s most unpalatable task as chief inspector was to visit Shotts prison, which housed Andrew Walker, the payroll robber and former soldier who murdered three of his army colleagues.

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Walker killed a retired major and two soldiers in a 19,000 robbery while the then Lt Col Clive Fairweather was in command at Glencorse barracks in Edinburgh. His three victims were shot dead with a sub-machine gun in the snow on the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh, in January 1985, after picking up an army payroll.

Blood stains in the snow led army personnel to the victims, who were discovered near a deserted cottage in Flotterstone Glen. Only Walker knows where the money is hidden .

Just months before the robbery, Mr Fairweather had disciplined Walker and warned him: "Unless you get a grip of yourself, I can see you wearing a blue suit and eating porridge".

"Those murders remain etched in my mind. It’s not something I like to dwell on," said Mr Fairweather. "It’s strange how fate deals you a hand. I never thought I’d find myself walking into Shotts and being confronted by my past."

Despite numerous visits to Shotts, Mr Fairweather has never spoken to Walker - the one prisoner he would sooner forget.

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