IN JAIL & OUT OF OUR NUTS

A BARLINNIE prisoner has lifted the lid on Scotland's spiralling drug crisis behind bars, claiming inmates are routinely "right out of their nut" to get through the day.

- BY JENNIFER HYLAND

JP, whose full name is John Fanning, is serving a three-year sentence for assault and robbery, described the jail as a "two-star hotel" where everything is bought for you, and has said he expects to die in the institution.

JP, 28, is one of a number of cons interviewed for a shocking BBC documentary series which follows the lives of inmates battling addiction amid a flood of illegal substances while serving time in the country's largest and most infamous jail.

The Victorian-age Glasgow prison is crammed with more than 1400 inmates across five halls where prisoners share cells and can be locked behind cell doors for up to 23 hours a day.

Against this backdrop, cons and staff battle to cope in an overcrowded system under strain.

Bar-L is to be replaced by overbudget HMP Glasgow three years later than planned in 2028.

Viewers will see JP's struggle to stay sober against a backdrop of abuse, trauma and drugs.

The addict, who began smoking crack at 13 and taking heroin at 15, said: "Some people can go through their whole lives without a chemical substance but I've got far too many problems to stay 100 per cent sober.

"I wish we didn't have to get out our nut to just get through one day but look at what we're dealing with in here.

"It's easier for me in here than out there. I was homeless, had nowhere to go, just had to do mad stuff to get by like rob Greggs just to eat.