Investigators probing a major disturbance at a north-east superjail believe rampaging inmates may have got high on a hidden stash of homemade hooch.
Prisoners at HMP Grampian, who barricaded themselves into a second floor cellblock during a 14-hour siege, are thought to have used simple kitchen ingredients like fruit and bread to concoct a potent, yet vile-tasting, alcoholic drink.
Trouble began just after 8pm on Tuesday when a group of men in the Peterhead jail’s Ellon hall started vandalising fixtures and fittings.
Security gates were closed, sealing the area off from the rest of the building, and inmates hung sheets across the grill to hide themselves from staff.
They also blocked off windows and attempted to smash a CCTV camera.
Police and other emergency services were called to the South Road complex just before 9pm. Around 40 specialist prison staff from across the country were also drafted in.
Last night, a spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said the area of the prison had been extensively damaged and would be out of bounds for some time.
Although he could not put a cost on the damage, he said it could easily run into tens of thousands of pounds.
“At the moment we are treating this part of the prison as a crime scene, so we can’t begin to carry out any repairs until we have completed all assessments.”
He said: “At the moment, we are gathering evidence which we hope will help us identify the main instigators and lead to prosecutions. Although we know there were 39 inmates involved here, some of them may have been less involved than others.”
All inmates in the wing have been transferred to other prisons, including Barlinnie and Perth.
The SPS could not confirm if homemade alcohol was involved, although it was not thought to have been at the root of the problem.
The stand-off, which ended at 10.30am when prison officers in riot gear stormed the cellblock, was classed by the prison service as a level three incident and is the first of its kind in Scotland for about six years.
It happened just weeks after the Press and Journal revealed there had been at least two flare-ups between staff and inmates – as well as an assault in the visiting area – since the £140million jail opened in early March.