A court heard yesterday that officers carrying out an intervention on inmates rioting at the north-east’s super-jail failed to record the incident on camera.
Susan Wilson, who was acting as siege area co-ordinator at HMP Grampian during the incident, told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that no footage had been ordered of the moment when armed guards in riot gear stormed through the barricade inmates had built.
She added that officers had been instructed to go in and “take back” the section in the Ellon Hall after attempts at negotiations failed during the 15-hour ordeal.
She said that, prior to the team of specialist officers going through the barricade, she saw a group of inmates at the back of the hall.
She explained there were around five or six of them whom she believed had weapons.
Miss Wilson, who was speaking at the trial against six men, accused of taking part in the riots, told the court that that at the incident had been labelled as a level 3 incident.
This meant it was an “incident of significant nature which requires response from the national command team”.
Robert Gill, 26, from Newmachar, 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, also from Aberdeen, accept being in custody at the time, but deny taking any part in the disturbance themselves.
During the fourth week of the trial the court heard that during any intervention, which required the use of physical force, it was expected the incident would be video recorded.
This would allow the footage to be examined to see what exactly had taken place and to ensure no excess force was used.
However, Miss Wilson said no one had been ordered to record the intervention on May 14, 2014.
The court previously heard prisoners had been targeted with PAVA spray during the intervention and that many came out complaining of the pain it was causing their eyes.
Miss Wilson was asked if she could remember any of the prisoners who she saw engaged in the riots.
She said she could but that she could not see any of them in court.
The trial, before Sheriff Andrew Miller, continues.
