Peaceful end to Shotts siege as inmates walk out

it began.

A Scottish Office spokesman said that the 74 inmates remaining in D

hall had left peacefully at 7.15pm and were in the custody of the prison

staff.

An internal inquiry has begun into the trouble which has left D hall

and the dining room badly damaged. Last night prison authorities refused

to comment on the nature of the prisoners' grievances.

But stringent new strip search measures introduced on visitors are

believed to have sparked off the latest trouble at the jail.

Banners displayed from several cells blamed prison brutality and the

strip searches for the violent protest.

It is understood that the measures have recently been stepped up in a

number of Scottish jails in an attempt to stem the flow of drugs into

the establishments.

The riot began around 8.30pm on Thursday when more than 100 inmates in

D hall went on the rampage.

Talks continued between a team of prison negotiators and the remaining

74 protesters barricaded within the wing. A group of 31 prisoners gave

themselves up early yesterday.

''At this stage it would be unwise to comment as to the reason or

reasons behind the protest,'' the Scottish Office spokesman said.

Earlier, he confirmed that one prison officer had been stabbed during

the siege. The officer, who has not been named, was taken to hospital

where his condition was described as ''stable''.

Another of the injured men was also detained in hospital after being

struck on the back by a missile. He was said to be ''satisfactory''.

Five other officers were allowed home after treatment. They were

injured during attempts by the prison staff to reoccupy D hall's dining

area just after 4am.

The spokesman said that police were investigating the circumstances in

which the seven prison officers were injured and a report would be

prepared for the procurator-fiscal.

Meanwhile, a former Shotts prisoner said yesterday that he believed it

was not just one incident that had caused the riot, but a host of

grievances by inmates.

He said: ''Management are creating a hate factory when they should be

listening to people who have been through the system. The management are

the main problem -- they have gone in with Draconian measures to a brand

new prison, and that cocktail just does not work. They would be better

suited to Perth -- or Colditz.''

Another source of unrest, he claimed, was the existence of the

''mufties'' -- the Minimum Use of Force Tactical Intervention Squad.

He alleged instances where the squad had taken away prisoners while

they were talking to their visitors on the grounds that they might have

been passed contraband.

''The prisoners are in there as a punishment -- not to get

punishment,'' he added. ''Is a baton on the back of the head minimum

force?''

''I was in there when it first opened and the conditions were so

relaxed that you actually thought you were in a hospital. This is not a

situation of prisoners wanting more and more comforts.''

Unlike previous major incidents at Scotland's newest jail, which has

seen five disturbances in the past six years -- four involving the

taking of hostages -- there was an eerie silence around the #15m complex

for much of yesterday.

A large police presence remained around the perimeter gates, giving

some inmates targets for occasional shouts of abuse.

After repeated efforts to begin dialogue with the prisoners had been

ignored, prison authorities made a breakthrough shortly before 11am, and

talks began. These continued throughout much of the day although

progress was initially extremely slow. Elsewhere in the prison, the

remaining 442 inmates went about their normal routines.

The chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, Mr Edward

Frizzell, last night welcomed the successful conclusion to the incident

without further injury. He praised prison staff for their handling of

the siege and said they had carried out their duties in a highly

professional manner.