When the chief inspector of Scotland's prisons visited Glenochil in February, the 668-capacity jail was holding 770 inmates.

Pablo Moreno Gonzalez, who was detained at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview for three days in October, was telling a judge about trying to sleep in a dirty and crowded holding cell when he began crying and pressing his fists to his forehead.

Overcrowding and staff shortages are highlighted at a Scottish prison as a new report “paints a sobering picture” of the issues. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) has published its inspection report on HMP Glenochil in Clackmannanshire.

At least four prisoners released in error are still at large, the BBC has been told. These are among 262 prisoners in England and Wales mistakenly released in the year to March - up from 115 the previous year.

The Inspector of Prisons has described conditions in Irish prisons as "inhuman and degrading" and says overcrowding has contributed to the increase in deaths in custody.

A 35-year-old British fugitive who was the subject of a national manhunt surrended to London's Wandsworth Prison three days after he was mistakenly released.

Overcrowding and poor healthcare contributed to a 50 per cent increase in prison deaths last year, according to a damning report from the Inspector of Prisons. There were 31 deaths in custody in 2024, the highest number since the office of the Inspector of Prisons was established in 2012.

Chronic overcrowding is “paralysing” the Scottish prison system and undermining efforts to rehabilitate prisoners and keep them safe, a