Jail scheme goes national

A SCHEME to prevent drugs and other contraband being smuggled into prisons, by asking the public to act as watchdogs, is to be rolled out across the country.

The pilot scheme at Edinburgh’s Saughton jail was judged so successful it was extended to prisons in Aberdeen and Peterhead, and is now to be rolled out nationwide.

The first six months of the Edinburgh trail saw a 76 per cent drop in the number of illegal items entering the prison – from 120 to 28 – compared with the same period the previous year.