Prison officers have revealed that the use of legal highs has sparked a sharp increase in violent crime in Scottish jails.

Jail staff say several serious incidents have taken place inside Scottish prisons as a result of inmates taking new psychoactive substances, known as NPS, many of which can trigger uncontrolled and unpredictable behaviour.

The warning follows reports that prisons across England have already been rocked by a spate of severe violence caused by legal highs, with concerns focusing particularly on a legal cannabis substitute known as “spice.”

Phil Fairlie, Scottish chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said Scottish prisons are now also being impacted. He said:

“There has been several incidents inside prisons, some of them fairly serious. It becomes very difficult to control individuals as they have incredible strength at times, they are not aware of what their capabilities are. The normal techniques we use for violent incidents in a prison aren’t particularly appropriate when we are dealing with someone in that situation.”

Fairlie revealed a group including health officers, prison authorities and trade unions has now been established to help manage incidents that occur as a result of legal highs.

But he emphasized the challenge faced by those seeking to quash the problem.

He said:

“It is a constant battle, but that has always been the case in prisons in dealing with any drug. However, with these substances, in particular, it doesn’t need much to get through before you have got significant issues to deal with.

“The market outside moves so quickly and the chemical make-ups are changing so rapidly. It is going to be a battle for a long time to come.”

A recent Channel 4 documentary filmed inside jails south of the border, the Secret Life of Prisons, documented the shocking violence and bullying caused by NPS, as well as the lengths inmates go to in order to obtain substances from inside. It showed drugs being smuggled into prisons stashed in trainers and even sprayed onto children’s drawings.

Mike Trace, chief executive of The Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust (RAPt), which works to create drug-free prisons in England, said one reason for the proclivity for legal highs is that dealers can make more money from drugs such as Spice than from cannabis or heroin.

He said: “With Spice we have heard examples where people have got five times or ten times the profit mark-up. So it is very attractive economically.”

A former prisoner who was helped by RAPt following his release described how the jail was ‘flooded’ with Spice during his last two sentences.

James, 42, said:

 “I saw people running around daily trying to get hold of it. It’s a very dangerous drug because we don’t know the effects and it affects people differently.

“My personal experience was that it made me paranoid and I lost control. The main reason people use drugs is it’s a way of handling the sentences, to pass the time when there is no education, no rehabilitation.”

Laws to criminalise so-called legal highs came into force across the UK in May this year, but they have always been banned in prisons.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said: "The SPS has been proactively managing NPS and its impact through awareness sessions and training.”

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