Prison staff have warned of riot fears at a jail where caged gangland kingpin Mark Richardson has been involved in “peace talks”.
Warders at HMP Glenochil are at loggerheads with the Scottish Prison Service over plans to move to an 11-hour shift within days.
Feared Richardson and psycho-killer sidekick Colin Coats had previously been given peacekeeping roles at the jail following tense stand offs over visiting times and time spent in cells.
Prison insiders say guards are now “pushing back” against an imminent change to their hours and fear the move could lead to an impact on lock up times and activities, sparking a rebellion by cons at the nick.
A prison source told the Record: “The prison service have previously had to negotiate with serious organised crime groups to stop the place blowing up.
View 4 ImagesHMP Glenochil(Image: PA)
“Mark Richardson threatened to kick up hell with other prisoners about fears that evening visits could be cancelled due to staff shortages. He made demands. The governor had to go down and negotiate a peace talk with him.
“This is no different. The word now from staff is that if their attendance patterns change, they won’t be coming in.
“The fear is that the day gets shortened and the lock up time becomes earlier so prisoners are in their cells longer.
“You’re going to potentially lose visits and purposeful activity.
“The organisation are trying to flip it to say that what they’re doing would actually help with concerted indiscipline, but the reality of it is it will probably increase the likelihood of riots, assaults against staff and other prisoners.
“The staff aren’t for it. They’re pushing back.
“Some staff are saying they want to strike on it.”
The prison officers’ union said they understood staff “anger” and are going through an “agreed dispute resolution process” with jail chiefs over shift changes due to come into force on May 24.
View 4 ImagesHMP Glenochil.(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.)
Overcrowding and staff shortages were highlighted as an issue at Glenochil, near Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, in November.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, Sara Snell, visited in February last year when the jail was holding 770 inmates – beyond its design capacity of 668.
The strain had sparked high staff absences and inspectors said the prison regime was curtailed, inconsistent and unpredictable, with prisoners regularly locked up until late in the morning and from 4pm, with no evening activities.
In November 2024, we told how Edinburgh mob boss Richardson was a lead negotiator in the prisoner council after protests at the jail led to tense lockdowns.
He was assisted by Coats, one of Scotland’s most notorious killers, who is serving a 33-year stretch for the torture and murder of Lynda Spence.
View 4 ImagesColin Coats.(Image: Crown Office/PA Wire.)
Richardson, 38, was moved to Glenochil in 2020 amid reports he was becoming too powerful in HMP Edinburgh. He was jailed for eight years and nine months in 2018 for possessing a loaded Glock handgun. He was one of nine men jailed for a total of almost 90 years for his role in drugs and arms plots.
He has also been linked to various gangland shootings.
He and Coats took up peacemaker roles as furious prisoners reacted to frequent last-minute cancellations of jail events that get them out of their cells.
And after two protests led to a prison stand-off – with emergency crews on alert amid fears of a riot – Richardson presented a list of demands to governor Sharanne Findlay.
Sources said the showdown allayed fears that evening visits would be cancelled, saying Richardson is “calls the shots” and prison management know “he has to be respected”.
It’s understood the new shift plans have been designed to provide better access to activities for prisoners at HMP Glenochil, including in the evening and are considered by prison chiefs to be working well at other establishments.
But an insider said they feared the move would not have the desired effect at Glenochil.
They said: “Staff are worried about burnout from dealing with challenging prisoners for longer periods every day. They have concerns that working 11 hour days will hugely impact on their health and safety and impact on the regime being offered to prisoners.”
John Cairney, Scottish National Committee Chair for the Prison Officers Association Scotland, said: “We do not recognise the threat of strike action that is being mentioned and the POAS are currently going through an agreed dispute resolution process which was the preferred route of the staff at HMP Glenochil. Following this process, we are hopeful that a resolution for our members is agreed upon.
“We understand the anger of many of our members at this attendance pattern change and both locally and nationally we will continue to represent our members through the agreed dispute process.”
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We are delivering new regimes across all establishments, including at HMP Glenochil, which will support staff wellbeing and maintain opportunities for rehabilitation, recovery, and other activities to those in our care.”
Article continues below
Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE