Angiolini urges government to close Cornton Vale

THE Scottish Government must place emphasis on closing Scotland’s only women’s prison as soon as possible, former lord advocate Dame Elish Angiolini told MSPs.

Dame Elish, who chaired the Commission on Women’s Offenders which recently reported its recommendations to the government, said Cornton Vale, near Stirling, was “a miserable place”, where some prisoners lived in “antediluvian and appalling” conditions.

Justice secretary Kenny Mac-Askill announced this week that he had asked the Scottish Prison Service to find alternatives to replace the prison, as the government confirmed it will take forward 33 of the commission’s 37 recommendations, and consider the remaining four in more detail.

The commission, tasked with finding a better way to treat female criminals and reduce reoffending rates, said Cornton Vale should be replaced with a smaller specialist prison for long-term and high-risk prisoners, as well as regional units to hold short-term and remand prisoners.