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Professor David Wilson and guests discuss the past and present of the Scottish prison system, looking at a range of subjects from escapes to riots, from it being a route to rehabilitation to what needs reformed.

Investigative journalist Fiona Walker visits the infamous Peterhead Prison on Scotland’s north east coast to recount the extraordinary escapades of Johnny Ramensky. Master safe-cracker Ramensky became the first person to escape from Peterhead; in fact, he escaped a total of five times. He also fought as a commando behind enemy lines in World War II.

In the studio, Fiona explains how Ramensky became involved in his life of crime, and how the authorities called him Gentleman Johnny because of his affable nature. She reveals how he was a ‘barrack room lawyer’, a prisoner who would campaign on behalf of his fellow inmates for better treatment.

David’s next guest is author Stuart Kelly, whose book The Minister and the Murderer charts the true-life story of a man accused and convicted of brutally murdering his mother. After serving ten years in prison, he then successfully applied to become a Church of Scotland minister. David and Stuart discuss the idea of forgiveness and redemption and try to get under the skin of a man of the cloth who had also taken a life.

David takes a tour of Peterhead Prison and applies his own understanding of the prison system to the terrible conditions inside this Victorian edifice, explaining how prisoners were still ‘slopping out’ as recently as 2003. The prisoners were so maltreated that in 1985 they rioted, taking a prison officer hostage. The then Thatcher government sent in the SAS to end the siege.

In the studio, David is joined by a former prison governor of Peterhead who witnessed the moment the SAS stormed the place and brought the riot and siege to an end. It took them six minutes. He explains the reforms he put in place in an attempt to regain the trust of prisoners as well as his demoralised officers. He and David discuss issues with the current system, of simply locking people up and the record numbers of people in prison in Scotland today.

David’s master interview is with ex-offender and former inmate of Barlinnie Prison Allan Weaver. Allan recounts his descent into a life of violence and gang fighting and how that led to a string of sentences. He offers a graphic insight into life behind bars. Now a social worker who helps ex-offenders, Allan passionately argues that many people locked up in Scotland’s jails really shouldn’t be there as they are not a threat to society, and that prison only makes them worse.