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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 30 July 2025
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Displaying 1673 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Criminal Justice (Scottish Government Priorities)

Meeting date: 1 September 2021

Russell Findlay

In response to Pauline McNeill, you talked about organised crime and the problems that it presents for the Scottish Prison Service. When we visited Saughton, we heard some first-hand accounts of that. It was explained to me that, such is the extent of the organised crime population in prisons—it numbers around 600 people—the risk of extreme violence, which is often gratuitous, is significantly higher than it used to be, and the Prison Service has extreme difficulty in managing that. One senior officer told me that two prisons have in effect become home to groups of prisoners associated with two sides of a fairly prominent and long-running dispute. One of those prisons, Addiewell, has been subject to significant media interest in the past week or two in relation to the power that prisoners appear to have in their relationships with prison staff, and issues of contraband goods in the prison. From a whistleblower talking to the media, there is a sense that Addiewell has serious problems because of the control of organised crime within the prison. Do you recognise that picture of the prison? What, if anything, have you done in response to those media reports?

Criminal Justice Committee

Interests

Meeting date: 22 June 2021

Russell Findlay

As a journalist, I reported extensively on policing and organised crime. I am also married to a police officer.

Criminal Justice Committee

Deputy Convener

Meeting date: 22 June 2021

Russell Findlay

Thank you.