It’s strange to be news-making, when you’ve spent a lifetime news-reporting.
But last week, I was watching news break during in a Prison’s Commission meeting in Edinburgh, hearing evidence from groups like COSLA, SACRO and the new Lothian and Borders Community Justice Authority. Our mission is to try and find out why Scotland locks up twice as many offenders as Norway and Ireland. And to consider the impact of ending automatic and unconditional early release on prison numbers and services. So far we’ve been to Barlinnie and Cornton Vale and on Monday we’ll be seeing round Saughton and speaking to prisoners and the Governor, Dan Gunn. Anyway, in the midst of Thursday’s evidence session, we got word that Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill had decided to make a statement on the terrible case of Robert Foye, who was at the Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee, half way through a 10-year sentence for attempting to murder a policeman when he was allowed out to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but did not return.
Foye was on the run for almost a week and raped a 16-year-old girl in Cumbernauld. He pleaded guilty to the offence last week and the story was front-page news.
Kenny MacAskill decided to ask the Commission to look at the role of open prisons in Scotland – and we spent the best part of two hours discussing how best to tackle that task. With a meeting a week at present – and commission members are all volunteers – it will be quite a challenge. But public and media confidence has been rattled by the case – and there’s no point in conducting this Commission in a vacumn. If you’ve an interest in all of this, the Prisons Commission website is about to spring into action – watch this space.