Europe torture watchdog slams Scottish prison

POLICE officers and jail staff have been accused of a catalogue of abuse against prisoners by Europe’s official anti-torture watchdog.

The inspectors found worrying levels of abuse at institutions including Scotland’s biggest jail and a high-security police station detaining the most dangerous terrorist suspects.

Days after an undercover investigation revealed disturbing claims of neglect at the private Kilmarnock Prison, we can reveal that a six-strong delegation from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) investigated conditions at Helen Street Police Station in Glasgow, Lanark Police Station and Barlinnie Prison during a routine visit to the UK.

Their report, published by the government last week, laid out a catalogue of concerns over allegations of violence against inmates by staff and fellow prisoners, overcrowding, "unacceptable" accommodation and the continued practice of "slopping out". The committee called on the Executive to abolish slopping out - an "inhuman and degrading treatment" - by the end of this year, two years earlier than the current target date.

In an unusually critical report, the CPT, an influential arm of the Council of Europe, revealed that complaints of violent assault by staff on prisoners at Barlinnie were running at the rate of more than two every month. Authorities recorded 26 allegations in 2002, including one of sexual assault, with prisoners reporting injuries, cuts, grazes, abrasions and swellings.

But they also revealed that the number of assaults by inmates against fellow prisoners trebled during the same period, sparking fears that a "culture of violence" had taken hold in Barlinnie. The delegation heard that one inmate had complained that his head was repeatedly banged against a wall by an officer.

The CPT also reported allegations of "the use of excessive force" by Helen Street police officers during arrests, including rough treatment, punches and kicks.

It also revealed that 40% of the 2,000 complaints lodged against Scottish police every year involve allegations of assault.

The CPT has now called upon Scottish police chiefs to ensure all their staff get "the clear message that the ill treatment of detained persons is not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions if it occurs".

Committee members urged prison chiefs to beware a culture of "intimidation and violence", after figures revealed the number of inter-prisoner assaults at Barlinnie had spiralled from nine in the year up to March 2002 to 28 in the following 12 months.

In a swipe at the entire Scottish justice system, the committee also called for an independent body to investigate complaints of ill treatment made against the police.

Cells at Lanark Police Station, designed to hold one inmate, were being used to accommodate three or more people, the delegation claimed. And poor ventilation caused condensation on the walls and floor and left inmates, who were forced to leave their shoes outside the cells, splashing around in their bare feet.

The CPT, which last visited Barlinnie in 1994, highlighted chronic overcrowding as the root of the worst problems afflicting Scottish prisons.

Its latest report condemned the policy of cramming 6,420 prisoners in institutions designed to accommodate 5,822, as well as failing to provide in-cell toilets for one in every five. "When combined with overcrowding, a very poor regime and little out-of-cell time amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment," it said.

The CPT also complained that a decade after it first condemned ‘dog-boxes’, "the cupboard-like structures, measuring about one square metre... used for holding prisoners in the reception unit at Barlinnie", the units were still in use.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: "All allegations of assault are reported to the police. We have a responsibility and a duty of care to prisoners, and assaults by prisoners or staff are not acceptable. We are committed to creating a culture of respect and decency within prisons both for staff and prisoners. Slopping out in Barlinnie has now ceased."

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said it was "acutely aware" of the issues in respect of prisoner holding. She added: "We endeavour at all times to ensure that the welfare of prisoners is given top priority. The force is currently reviewing custody holding across the force area with a project focusing on reducing the number of holding areas and the modernisation and building of new facilities, all of which will comply with European directives in respect of prisoner holding."