HM Prison Perth

Located on one site in south east Perth, Scotland, HM Prison Perth is a prison 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, Perth and Kinross and the northern part of Fife. There is also a secure unit for Category A prisoners who are serving sentences of up to life imprisonment. The prison has a national unit that houses disruptive prisoners, where intensive staff/prisoner interaction occurs.

The main building, a half-mile (1 km) south of the city centre beyond the South Inch, was constructed by architect Robert Reid (1774–1856) from 1810-12 to hold French prisoners captured during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1842, the building began service as a civilian prison and today represents Scotland's oldest prison still in use. 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, lies opposite the southern end of Moncrieffe Island, 1 ¹⁄₄ miles (2.0 km) 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^[1]

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. Jail now holds 700. Perth holds a lot of long term prisoners (4 years or more).

A total of three judicial executions by hanging took place on the gallows at Perth prison during the 20th Century:

• Edward Johnstone - executed 19 August 1908 for the murder of Jane Wallace (Withers)
• Alexander Edmundstone - executed 16 July 1909 for the murder of Michael Swinton Brown
• Stanislaw Miszka - executed 6 February 1948 for the murder of Catherine McIntyre

As was customary, the bodies of executed prisoners were buried in unmarked graves within the prison walls.

References

Coordinates: 56°23′8″N 3°25′48″W / 56.38556°N 3.43000°W / 56.38556; -3.43000