HM Prison Barlinnie

HM Prison Barlinnie is a prison located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north-east of Glasgow, Scotland. It was mainly used for short term prisoners or those awaiting trial in Glasgow courts, but also long term prisoners awaiting transfer to prisons such as Saughton or Peterhead. It also housed the Libyan diplomat held responsible for the Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie plane disaster but who has now been transferred to HM Prison Greenock. Barlinnie prison consists of 5 halls - A, B, C, D, and E. The prison is colloquially known as "Bar-L" in some parts of Scotland. The bucket-as-toilet routine known as slopping out was still in practice there as late as 2003. Since 2001 refurbishment has taken place after critical reports by the Scottish Chief Inspector of Prisons [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3158882.stm] .

A total of 10 judicial executions by hanging took place at HMP Barlinnie between 1946 and 1960:

* 8 February 1946 - John Lyon
* 6 April 1946 - Patrick Carraher - aged 40 yrs
* 10 August 1946 - John Caldwell
* 30 October 1950 - Christopher Harris
* 16 December 1950 - James Robertson
* 12 April 1952 - James Smith
* 29 May 1952 - Patrick Gallagher Deveney
* 26 January 1953 - George Francis Shaw
* 11 July 1958 - Peter Manuel - aged 31 yrs
* 22 December 1960 - Anthony Miller - aged 19 yrs Each of the condemned men had been convicted of murder. All the executions took place at 8.00 am. As was the custom, the remains of all executed prisoners were buried in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison. During the prison renovations of 1997, the prison gallows (built into a cell-block) were demolished and the remains of all the executed prisoners were exhumed for reburial elsewhere.

Footballer Duncan Ferguson was imprisoned in HMP Barlinnie for 44 days in 1995.

ee also

* Scottish Prison Service
* List of prisons in the United Kingdom

External links

* [http://www.sps.gov.uk/Default.aspx?DocumentID=7c44c76e-a459-4704-be2d-a4cafca31e27 HMP Barlinnie (SPS Website)]
* [http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=43269 'Hanging With Frank' (video showing UK execution protocol at the old gallows in Barlinnie Prison)]