Violent criminals freed by mistaken from Scots jails spent up to a year on the loose
Violent criminals have been allowed to roam the country for up to a year after being released by mistake in prison blunders, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
By HANNAH RODGER, CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE SCOTTISH MAIL ON SUNDAY
Published: 18:19 GMT, 27 December 2025 | Updated: 18:35 GMT, 27 December 2025
Violent criminals have been allowed to roam the country for up to a year after being released by mistake in prison blunders, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In the past decade, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has accidentally freed 55 inmates, including 13 violent offenders.
Data obtained by The Mail on Sunday shows some were at liberty for months before being caught and returned to prison, while in one case an offender was on the loose for more than a year.
The public has been kept in the dark, with the SPS and the government never mentioning that they had let violent criminals loose for long periods of time.
Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill called for more transparency over the errors.
‘It is clear that our justice system is in total chaos under this SNP government,’ she said.
‘Prisons are operating at dangerous capacity levels, police officers are overstretched and our communities are at breaking point.’
Since April 2015, 55 prisoners have mistakenly been released, including 13 who were free for more than a month, according to data obtained from the SPS.
In 2019-20, a prisoner was on the loose for 162 days before being caught. Another offender didn’t return to custody for 158 days in 2021-22, while the following year one was at large for 161 days.
Eleven prisoners have been mistakenly released from HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow since April 2015
A total of 10 prisoners were accidentally released from HMP Addiewell in West Lothian
In 2023-24, six prisoners were released in error across Scotland, with one remaining on the run for a staggering 367 days.
This year five prisoners have been freed by accident, with one not captured for 120 days.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said prisoners should be expected to ‘serve their sentences in full’ rather than be released in error. ‘Scots will be furious that blundering Nationalist ministers have let dangerous criminals roam free for months on end,’ he said.
Scotland’s largest prison, HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, has mistakenly released 11 prisoners since April 2015 while HMP Addiewell, in West Lothian, accounted for 10 of the total.
Four people were mistakenly let out of the young offenders’ institution (YOI) at Polmont, Stirlingshire, including one this year, while at HMP and YOI Stirling three criminals have been freed by accident – all since 2023.
HMP and YOI Grampian have also released three offenders in error in the last decade.