24-544: HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie , in the north east of Glasgow , Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose , Bar and Bar-L . In 2018, plans for its closure were announced. Barlinnie was designed by Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson , architect and engineer to
48-494: A body of sculpture; and The Silent Scream (1979), a book of prose and poems by Larry Winters, who committed suicide in 1977. A total of 10 judicial executions by hanging took place at HMP Barlinnie between 1946 and 1960, replacing the gallows at Duke Street Prison before the final abolition of capital punishment in the United Kingdom for murder in 1969: Each of the condemned men had been convicted of murder. All
72-404: A case management approach, working collaboratively with the prisoner, their family, statutory and third sector service partners, to discuss appropriate support provision and to develop a personalised plan to support the person during their transition from custody back in to the community." The SPS has been featured in many TV shows including Prison: First & Last 24 Hours on Sky One which
96-509: A subsidiary of Scottish and Southern Energy ) who operate it today. Originally the plant was a gasworks , manufacturing town gas via the cooking of coal . The plant was expanded after 1919. Following nationalisation of the gas supply in 1948, the plant passed to the Scottish Gas Board , and then to British Gas in 1973. In 1972, supplies of inexpensive natural gas from North Sea oilfields became available. The gasworks
120-508: Is Teresa Medhurst and supporting her is the SPS Board consisting of: HMP Addiewell is privately managed under contract to the SPS. Prior to April 2004, the SPS was directly responsible for escorting convicted prisoners in Scotland, including those appealing their conviction or sentence. The duties of escorting prisoners on remand and managing court custody facilities were the responsibility of
144-595: The Scottish Chief Inspector of Prisons . In October 2018, it was announced that HMP Barlinnie is to be sold and replaced with a new superjail within Glasgow or its outskirts. In 2019, local MP Paul Sweeney proposed that the historic prison buildings be saved from demolition and converted into a prison museum after it is decommissioned. In January 2020, the Prison Service announced that
168-439: The SPS. An aftercare scheme, Throughcare, has significantly cut reoffending. The scheme involves getting released prisoners a roof over their heads, sorting out their benefits and medical needs, and showing them that someone cares about them. 78% of former prisoners who received Throughcare did not return to prison over two years. Eleven Scottish prison service sites use Throughcare. "The TSOs [Throughcare Support Officers] use
192-643: The Scottish Prison Department, and it was built in the then rural area of Riddrie adjacent to the Monkland Canal (now the route of the M8 motorway ), first opening with the commissioning of A hall in July 1882. Barlinnie prison's five accommodation halls: A, B, C, D and E, were built in stages between 1882 and 1897, with each holding approximately 69 inmates. There was a major extension to
216-799: The Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible for its administration and reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice , who is responsible for the Scottish Prison Service within the Scottish Government. There are fifteen prison establishments in the country, one of which is privately managed. The SPS employs over 4,000 staff, with its headquarters in One Lochside, located in South Gyle , Edinburgh . The current Chief Executive
240-691: The West of Scotland as well as retaining male remand prisoners and prisoners serving less than 4-year sentences. It also allocates suitable prisoners from its convicted population to lower security prisons, including HMP Low Moss and HMP Greenock , as well as holding long-term prisoners in the initial phase of their sentence prior to transfer to long-term prisons such as HMP Glenochil, HMP Shotts, HMP Kilmarnock or HMP Grampian . Barlinnie prison still consists of five accommodation halls with each holding approximately 200 inmates and an additional National Top End Facility (Letham Hall) housing long term prisoners nearing
264-591: The court custody units. In 2012, the court custody and prisoner escort service contract was taken over by G4S . Geoamey currently run the service, having taken over from G4S in January 2019. The current contract is due to expire in January 2027, subject to an optional extension for a period of up to 4 years. Some prisoners are detained in a secure psychiatric hospital . This is run by the Scottish National Health Service rather than
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#1732781090959288-477: The end of their incarceration. All five accommodation halls were refurbished between 1997 and 2004. There is also a hospital unit with accommodation for 18 prisoners, which includes eight cells specially designed for suicide supervision. A new administration and visiting block was completed in 1999. The in-cell bucket-as-toilet routine known as slopping out was still in practice there as late as 2003. Since 2001, refurbishment has taken place after critical reports by
312-445: The executions took place at 8.00 am. As was the custom, the remains of all executed prisoners were the property of the state, and were therefore buried in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison. During the D hall renovations of 1997, the prison gallows cell (built into D-hall) was finally demolished and the remains of all the executed prisoners were exhumed for reburial elsewhere. The first man to escape from Barlinnie
336-469: The largest of their kind in the UK, each of the towers can hold 283,000 m (9,994,000 cu ft) of gas, and is 85.4 metres (280 ft) in diameter. Their combined storage capacity is 566,000 m (19,988,000 cu ft) – each enough to supply a city the size of York for an entire day. Since the construction of the M8 and M80 motorways in the 1970s and 1980s, which run directly next to
360-463: The perimeter in 1967 to create an industrial compound. From 1973 till 1994, the world-famous "Special Unit" placed emphasis on rehabilitation , the best known success story being that of reformed Glasgow gangster Jimmy Boyle . Cultural output associated with the Special Unit included Boyle's autobiography, A Sense of Freedom (1977); The Hardman (1977), the play Boyle wrote with Tom McGrath ;
384-502: The plant is under discussion: Glasgow City Council have proposed plans for decontaminating the unused land on the brownfield site and redeveloping it for commercial use. In 2012, Scotia Gas Networks announced that the twin column-guided and single spiral-guided gasometers were to be decommissioned, with no decision made on their future. The twin column-guided gasholders were protected as Category B listed structures in 2018 by Historic Environment Scotland (with associated buildings on
408-425: The plant, the twin gasholders have become an unofficial portal into the city's central area for drivers from Edinburgh and the north. The towers have also gained an affectionate following among locals since they are often used to display huge placards showcasing the various promotional slogans for the city, the most memorable being the " Glasgow's Miles Better " and "Everyone's Glasgowing On" campaigns. The future of
432-432: The proposed site for the replacement prison was a 22-hectare (54-acre) site formerly occupied by Provan Gas Works . Cooperation between the prison authorities, the prisoners and third parties have resulted in the production of research materials suggesting the following conclusions: (2010) Alcohol is blamed by the majority of youths (av age 18.5 years) for their committing serious harm to others (base study 172 persons) by
456-503: The relevant local police force. In November 2003, the SPS signed a contract on behalf of the Scottish Ministers for a "Prisoner Escort and Court Custody Service". This contract with Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd provided for all prisoner escorting between police cells, court, prisons and hospitals as well as covering escorts from prison such as funerals, hospital appointments and community placements and also operating
480-412: The site listed at Category C), a decision which the owners disputed due to the high maintenance costs involved, particularly when no longer being used for their originally designed purpose. However, the listed status (along with a pair of similar structures located in the city's Temple / Kelvindale area) was upheld after appeal, supported by local MP Paul Sweeney , who called for the creative reuse of
504-570: The use of weapons (mostly knives). 90% of the study group were in Barlinnie for committing serious harm to others (i.e. not crimes of dishonesty). Most were gang members. Scottish Prison Service The Scottish Prison Service ( SPS ) ( Scottish Gaelic : Seirbheis Phrìosain na h-Alba ) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions . The Chief Executive of
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#1732781090959528-409: Was John Dobbie, three days after being sentenced to 15 years for a violent robbery in 1985. Dobbie escaped inside a laundry van, he was captured by armed police five days later and was sentenced to a further five years. Today Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland, holding just under 1,400 prisoners although it has a design capacity of 987. The prison currently receives prisoners from the courts in
552-516: Was broadcast between 28 October 2015 and 5 December 2016. Provan Gas Works Provan Gas Works is an industrial gas holding plant in the city of Glasgow , Scotland . The plant lies between the Blackhill , Blochairn , Germiston and Provanmill areas of the city, and was built by Glasgow Corporation between 1900 and 1904. It later became part of British Gas , and subsequently Transco and most recently Scotia Gas Networks (previously
576-521: Was downsized significantly in the 1980s in response to changing economic conditions arising as the British gas industry was privatised under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . Today the plant is largely unmanned, used solely for gas storage and distribution. The plant has become significant for its two massive column-guided gasometers and an additional spiral-guided gasometer, which have become an iconic industrial landmark in Glasgow's East End . Among
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