More than 8,000 assaults recorded at Scottish prisons since 2021
Between 2021 and 2024, prisoners at HMP Barlinnie committed 1,062 assaults on fellow inmates and 173 assaults on staff.
Meanwhile, HMP Addiewell in West Lothian experienced 940 prisoner fights and 206 assaults on staff in the same timeframe, while YOI Polmont recorded 1,295 fights between young offenders and 110 staff attacks.
Young offenders at Polmont committed more than 1400 assaults over the period. (Image: supplied) HMP Low Moss was also high on the list of violent altercations, recording 624 inmate and 103 staff assaults.
Overall, 1,846 inmate fights and 326 staff assaults were recorded in 2021; followed by 1,481 and 239 in 2022; 1,633 and 318 in 2023; and a rise to 1,919 and 351 in 2024.
That is a total of 8,113 assaults over the four year period.
Responding to our findings, which were obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, Mr McArthur compared the situation to a 'pressure cooker'.
He said: 'Staff are going to their work in fear of being assaulted, increasingly encountering dangerous situations and unable to work with individuals to help improve their prospects.
'These pressure cooker conditions simply ramp up the chances of reoffending, adding to what is already a vicious cycle.
'Scottish Liberal Democrats have long raised awareness of the burgeoning problems in prisons, but ministers have failed to act with the urgency needed. It's time for a step change, and that begins with a properly funded justice system that can deliver robust and credible community sentences where appropriate.'
Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur has spoken out. (Image: PA) Initial figures from 2025 tell a similar story. As of April 30, 544 fights between inmates and 109 staff assaults were recorded across the 17 facilities which comprise Scotland's prison estate.
Over the last several years, concerns over violence in Scotland's prisons have come to the fore, as the number of assaults on inmates and staff continue to rise.
A Glasgow University study of adult male prisoners housed in Scottish jails found that 86% had suffered significant head injuries, which was linked to difficulties with social relationships, poor self-control, and clinical anxiety and depression.
And Natalie Beal, chair of the Prisoners Governors Association Scotland, recently told The Herald that overcrowding in the nation's jails could lead to significant violence.
She said: 'If we think about chronic stress on the system. It is not just the case of high population numbers, but high population numbers over a sustained period.
"There are combined factors. What we are really concerned about is that something really small like 'my chips don't taste as good today', something that seems relatively insignificant in the wider picture of things, can and does trigger someone becoming really, really violent.'
New legislation will allow 'short-term offenders' to be released after serving just 40% of their sentences. (Image: Getty/Derek McArthur) There are around 8,000 prisoners in Scotland's jails on a daily basis, one of the highest populations on record – and the third highest incarceration rate in Europe.
To combat overcrowding, the Scottish Government will release 'short-term' offenders – those serving less than four years – after 40% of their sentence has been completed, rather than the previous 50%.
Asked to reveal how many staff members had resigned due to mental health concerns, a Scottish Prison Service (SPS) information officer said: 'We do not hold information on those staff who have left our employment due to their mental ill health or employees who may have resigned citing their mental ill health as the reason.
'We can, however, identify employees who have left the service via capability dismissal whose reason for absence falls within the 'mental ill health' category.'
According to the figures, 36 staff were dismissed due to mental ill health in 2021/22, 40 in 2022/23, 27 in 2023/24, and 25 in 2024/25.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Scottish Prison Service said: 'Our staff go above and beyond every day, supporting and caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society, and helping to build safer communities for all of Scotland.
'We recognise the importance of supporting their health and wellbeing, especially when the population they manage is as high and complex as it has been over the past 12 months.
'We continue to work in partnership to look at appropriate services, such as NHS Lothian's Lifelines Scotland resources, which provide a valuable tool for supporting their self-care, resilience, and recovery, while also signposting to other wellbeing services that are available to them.'
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