Prison officers at a north-east super-jail have told a court how they were forced to flee from rioting inmates when items started to be thrown at them.
The comments were made during the third day of the trial against six men who are accused of forming and evil mob at HMP Grampian.
Officers Louise Huddlestone, Neil Davidson and Colin Blackburn told jurors at Aberdeen Sheriff Court how they watched events develop, but had to flee after the inmates were alerted to their presence.
Robert Gill, 26, from Newburgh, Stephen Sim, 31, from Stonehaven, Michael Stewart, 31, from Forfar, Dominic Jordan, 30, from Merseyside, Sandy Mundie, 30, from Aberdeen and 33-year-old George Thomson, from Aberdeen, are all alleged to have banded together to instil terror into fellow inmates and prison officers on May 13, 2014.
The men accept they were prisoners at the time of the riots but deny any involvement in the incident.
Miss Huddlestone said a window in the pantry area of the prison’s D section in the Ellon Hall gave a vantage point of the area where the prisoners were.
Giving evidence she described how she took notes about what was happening around her from about 9.30pm to 9.50pm.
She said her colleague Mr Blackburn also passed a video camera to her and Mr Davidson so they could record the events.
The court heard they were eventually forced to leave their hiding place when the inmates realised they were there and began throwing items towards them.
Fiscal Depute David Bernard asked Miss Huddlestone about the bid to use the camera and if it was used for the duration of the time there.
She replied it wasn’t and told the court: “We came to understand we had been spotted. They started throwing things towards the window. It was decided it was not safe so we left.”
Meanwhile, in his evidence, Neil Davidson described what he saw from the pantry.
He said: “By the time we got there the windows were all smashed.”
Mr Davidson said inmates were “throwing debris” out of windows.
And Mr Blackburn also descried seeing prisoners from the window in the pantry, throwing things including parts of a broken pool table.
When Mr Bernard asked him if George Thomson was part of that group, he replied: “yes”.
The trial continues.
