Sixty remand prisoners in one of Scotland’s toughest jails
are making a making a multi-million pound compensation claim using Article
Three of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The prisoners at Barlinnie jail in Glasgow are claiming
compensation of £5,000 each and an immediate transfer to another prison because
they say that slopping out subjects them to inhuman and degrading treatment.
The move follows a successful case by Robert Napier who
won his claim against unsanitary conditions in the prison in July.
The Scottish Prison Service say that if the prisoners are
successful in their claims it could cost as much as £100m to upgrade facilities
across all of Scotland’s prisons and they are appealing against Napier’s Court
of Session judgement later in the year as well a contesting these new claims.
By Colin Wright
