A former Peterhead Prison officer who was famously held hostage during one of the darkest chapters in the jail’s history said he was not surprised by yesterday’s drama.
Jackie Stewart, who was paraded by inmates during 1987’s rooftop riots, said: “I wondered when something like this was going to happen.”
The 84-year-old, who still stays in Peterhead, said he had been given a tour of the new facility with other former officers.
“We were shown round by the governor, who told us that he wasn’t there to punish these inmates, but to help them.
“That’s very different to how it was when I was there.”
Although attitudes towards prisoners are now very different, day-to-day life behind bars for mainstream inmates has barely changed, he said.
“What happened this morning is just part of prison life,” he said.
“They’re just trying to make their days more interesting.
“When I was at Peterhead we would have things like this happening all the time. Assaults on staff would happen on a daily basis.
“We just got on with it. We accepted it was just part of a life at Peterhead.”
He added: “Most of the inmates were fine and no bother at all.
“The crowd they’ve got in there just now are nothing like as bad as the ones we had, but it’s the same deal.
“The way I’ve always seen it is that if you have one bad apple and put it in with a barrel of good apples, they’ll all turn bad.
“And if you have a barrel full of bad apples, it’s just a mess.”
Mr Stuart, who was freed after SAS troops stormed the jail’s D Block, said: “You are always going to get ones trying to be top dog, but they aren’t the ones you have to worry about.
“They get other people to do their dirty work for them.
“The only way to deal with them is to stand up to them and show them you mean business.
“When you’re on the inside, its just little things that can lead to incidents like this.
“When I was taken hostage, that started because one inmate was using a toaster when they weren’t supposed to.
“They were reported to the governor about this and that’s what kicked it all off. The prisoner said he was going to stab this inmate and then it all went downhill from there.”
After the 1987 riot, HMP Peterhead – which was dubbed the “Hate Factory” – was transformed into a specialist unit for sex offenders.