HM Prison Perth is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

that houses short term adult male prisoners (those prisoners serving under 4 years). A maximum security establishment which also houses fine defaulters and those on remand from the courts of Angus,

City of Dundee Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for the Dundee, City of Dundee. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. History Dundee City became a single-tier Councils ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland ...

and the northern part of

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

. There is also a secure unit for Category A prisoners who are serving sentences of up to life imprisonment. It is Scotland's oldest prison still in use. The main building, a half-mile (1 km) south of the city centre beyond the

South Inch South Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 31 hectares in size,The South Inch, ...

, was constructed by architect Robert Reid (1774–1856) from 1810-12 to hold French prisoners captured during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, when it was known as the Depot. In 1842, the building began service as a civilian prison. It comprises five halls (labelled A to C) and has a capacity of 504 prisoners. A second building, Friarton Hall, which was, until 1999, a separate institution known as

HM Prison Friarton HM Prison Friarton (later Friarton Detention Centre, Friarton Borstal and Friarton Hall Young Offenders Institution) was a place of detention for young (male) offenders aged between 16 and 21. It was located on the outskirts of Perth, Scotland, ...

, was situated opposite the southern end of

Moncreiffe Island Moncreiffe Island, also known as Friarton Island, is an island in Perth, Scotland. It divides the River Tay into two channels as it flows through Perth, and is crossed by the single-track Tay Viaduct, carrying the Scottish Central Railway. Lan ...

, south southeast of the town centre. This modern building once served to prepare prisoners for open conditions and had a capacity of 89. Friarton closed in early 2010 and is no longer part of HMP Perth, this building was demolished to make way for a new housing estate. HMP Perth no longer has a D Hall or an E hall. The old C Hall was knocked down in 2006 to make way for a new fit for purpose C Hall which holds 365 prisoners. HMP Perth now holds around 700 prisoners. Perth holds a conserdably large amount of long term prisoners who usually serve for more than 4 years. In 1965, the United Kingdom's last condemned suite was constructed at HMP Perth. The building was separate from the rest of the prison and was known as the 'Hanging Block'. It was never used as the death penalty was suspended later that year and abolished for murder in 1969. When the gallows at

HMP Barlinnie HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

were removed in 1995, the facility at HMP Perth was retained for use in the unlikely event of a death sentence being executed for one of the remaining capital offences. It was converted for use as an officer training facility after the final abolition of the death penalty for all offences in 1998 and demolished in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perth (Hm Prison) Listed prison buildings in Scotland Listed buildings in Perth, Scotland Prisons in Perth, Scotland Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross 19th-century establishments in Scotland Execution sites in Scotland 1842 establishments in Scotland

See also

References