Prisoner breaks out from Reliance van

Prisoner in Reliance custody escaped through roof of transportation

Company to blame for at least six recent mistaken releases or escapes

Opposition parties call for its contract to be ended

Key quote

"It is particularly galling that this escape has happened following major improvements in our prisoner escorting service. Our record of delivering prisoners to court has been unprecedented in recent weeks, with 100 per cent delivery on time on many occasions" - Tom Riall, managing director of Reliance

Story in full THEY have already mistakenly released a murderer and lost at least half a dozen other convicts, but the court escort firm Reliance Custodial Services stumbled into yet more controversy yesterday as a prisoner escaped through the roof of one of its vans.

The company confirmed it had been forced to review security across its vehicle fleet after revealing that a prisoner had escaped through a roof-hatch while being transferred to court in Glasgow yesterday morning.

Strathclyde Police said a warrant had been issued for the arrest of David Duffy, a 39-year-old from Glasgow, after he broke out of the prisoner transport vehicle, owned and operated by Reliance Custodial Services, during his transfer to Glasgow Sheriff Court where he was due to appear on charges of breach of the peace and assault.

The vehicle had 14 "cells" and each is equipped with a hatch to facilitate the removal of prisoners in case of an emergency.

Tom Riall, the managing director of Reliance, who last month told MSPs that his firm had been responsible for at least six of 17 mistaken releases or escapes since it took over prisoner escort services in west central Scotland on 5 April, confirmed he had called in security experts to examine its vans in the wake of the incident.

He said: "We have called in security experts to double-check all our vehicles to make sure that they are 100 per cent secure. It is particularly galling that this escape has happened following major improvements in our prisoner escorting service. Our record of delivering prisoners to court has been unprecedented in recent weeks, with 100 per cent delivery on time on many occasions."

Senior Reliance staff claimed it was compulsory for its vans to have hatches under Health and Safety regulations, but the justice minister, Cathy Jamieson, who has endured calls for her resignation over the firm’s performance, said she was deeply disappointed by the latest slip-up and had called for an investigation.

She said: "I am clearly concerned to hear about this escape from a Reliance vehicle. The Scottish Prison Service are investigating the circumstances into the incident and I expect them, with Reliance, to take appropriate action when those circumstances are clear. Escapes are rare but, sadly, they do happen. However, this is particularly disappointing since Reliance’s systems for transferring prisoners are designed to be even more secure than the procedures they have replaced."

The minister also warned that the company faced a financial penalty, believed to be 25,000, as a result of the escape.

Conservative and SNP politicians remained united in their demands for the Scottish Executive to terminate the firm’s 111-million-a-year contract.

The SNP’s justice spokeswoman, Nicola Sturgeon, called on the Executive to cancel the Reliance contract while the Scottish Tories’ justice spokesman, Annabel Goldie, called for Ms Jamieson to resign.

She said: "Just how many escapes have to take place before Cathy Jamieson does the right thing and resigns? If she will not resign, then Jack McConnell must sack her."