Release blunder prisoner recaptured

Montgomery was being held on remand

Police have recaptured a remand prisoner who was mistakenly released from Scotland's only private jail.

James Montgomery, 33, was spotted at just after midnight on Friday in Morven Avenue in Kilmarnock.

He was being held in Bowhouse Prison in the town in connection with an allegation of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Strathclyde Police say he will be returned to the prison later on Saturday.

Prisoners at work inside the jail

The Scottish Prison Service said an "administrative error" had resulted in Mr Montgomery being released on Wednesday.

The mistaken release comes just days after the head of the prison service in Scotland, Clive Fairweather, expressed concern over the running of the Ayrshire jail.

He said it had made a "promising start" when it opened in March 1999. However, since then staff and inmates had complained about staffing levels.

Mr Fairweather said he recognised the deep concern at the turnover of staff employed by the Premier Prisons-run jail.

He also expressed worries about a lack of co-ordination in the prison's anti-drugs strategy and a "high level" of assaults on staff.

Clive Fairweather: Worried about staffing

Mr Fairweather's report and news of the wrongful release are expected to be viewed as crucial to the Scottish Executive which is currently debating whether to build more private prisons.

Bowhouse Prison, which normally houses 500 prisoners, was financed under the UK Government's Private Finance Initiative.

Inmates, including all those on remand, are Category B prisoners, meaning they do not need to be held in high-security cells.

The prison refused to comment on whether the blunder occurred because of staffing levels.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Officers Association said: "It is too early to make any comment about this incident.

"There will be an internal investigation at the prison to determine what has happened, but it is too early to say who is at fault".