CRAMMED IN AND OUT OF CONTROL

Fears chaotic jails at breaking point

- JOHN FERGUSON

SCOTLAND'S prisons are "dangerously out of control" due to overcrowding, budget pressures and gangland feuds behind bars, it's been claimed.

New figures confirm Barlinnie, Edinburgh, Glenochil, Inverness, Kilmarnock, and Castle Huntly jails, are all over their Assessed Capacity Tolerance (ACT).

ACT is the absolute maximum capacity that a prison can hold under extreme circumstances, beyond which the SPS risks failing to meet its statutory duties.

It comes amid warnings feuding gangland villains are "destabilising" packed jails as "burnt out" prison guards struggle to keep rival gangs apart.