By GEORGIA EDKINS, SCOTTISH ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
Scotland’s most hardened criminals are being allowed to watch X-rated films and TV shows featuring extreme criminal activity, sex and drug use from the comfort of their cells
Amid an ‘epidemic’ of violence behind bars, inmates at one of the country’s toughest jails, HMP Barlinnie, are free to rent from a range of thousands of 18+ DVDs, which include films about serial killers and sexual deviants.
That is despite such X-rated films and videos being outlawed in English jails since 2013.
A list of movies available to prisoners, obtained via freedom of information laws, include titles such as Saw, Silence of the Lambs and American TV show Dexter, about a police forensic officer who kills criminals in his free time.
Inmates can also watch TV shows about real-life child killers Fred and Rose West, Myra Hindley and Beverley Allitt, as well as highly sexualised content including Fifty Shades of Grey, Brokeback Mountain and American Pie.
Shockingly, US TV series Prison Break – about two brothers hatching a complex plan to break free from jail – is also available to watch.
Prison officers have now demanded that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) review access to the material amid fears it could heighten tensions behind bars.
It comes after it was revealed that there have been more than 250 assaults on prison staff on average each year over the past decade.
Inmates can watch TV shows about real-life child killers Fred and Rose West
Violent films such as Silence of the Lambs are also among the films on offer to prisoners
Earlier this month, the High Court in Edinburgh heard that convicted murderer Robert Paterson plotted to have a guard at HMP Saughton ‘seriously assaulted’ with a handgun.
A spokesman for the Prison Officer’s Association said: ‘Given all the factors such as overcrowding, drug use, bullying and organised crime gang activities inside our prisons, the last thing we need is anything else adding to the tension or temperatures.
‘It is something that the SPS should be reviewing as a priority with a view to limiting the availability of these films.’
However, the Scottish Conservatives went further and demanded that SNP ministers intervene to force the SPS to remove the films. Justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘Ordinary Scots will be appalled that inmates are being provided with X-rated movies.
‘England and Wales banned 18-rated movies and TV shows from their prisons 12 years ago and it is about time the Scottish Prison Service followed suit.
‘Many of the prisoners at Barlinnie will be behind bars for violent crimes, so it is common sense that they should not be able to access graphically violent material about serial killers and torturers.’
He added: ‘Prisoners trying to get clean will also not be helped by having access to content that promotes drug use.
Inmates at HMP Barlinnie are free to rent from a range of thousands of 18+ DVDs
In a strange turn of events one of the films inmates can watch is Prison Break, above
‘SNP ministers must intervene and immediately direct the SPS to remove violent or sexual films.’
The SPS was asked by the Tories to provide a full list of the films, TV shows and games that prisoners had access to in Glasgow’s HMP Barlinnie.
Thousands of titles were revealed, of all different certifications, including many that appear to be highly inappropriate for a rehabilitative environment.
Those featuring graphic violence and torture include Silence of the Lambs, about a serial killer who preys on women, as well as the Saw horror franchise, another film about a serial killer, who tortures his victims.
Dexter, Blade, Deadpool, Kill Bill and the Exorcist are also available as well as shows with graphic and disturbing sexual content.
These include Taxi Driver, about a 12-year-old child who is forced into sex work.
Other films and TV series that may be seen to promote criminal activity and drug use include Scarface, The Wire, Narcos, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Prison Break and Peaky Blinders.
In 2013, former Conservative Justice Minister Chris Grayling cracked down on the availability of such films and TV shows in prisons in England and Wales.
A spokeswoman for the SPS said: ‘Access to watching DVDs is a privilege not a right, and is available at the discretion of the Governor.’
