Prison siege triggers inquiry calls

Two staff were involved in the incident

A prison siege in which two nursing officers were taken hostage has ended peacefully.

The staff at Saughton Prison in Edinburgh are understood to have been taken hostage by a single inmate at 0800 BST on Thursday.

The officers, a man and a woman, were released about 1330 BST.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said neither of the staff appeared to have been physically injured in the incident.

The incident has triggered calls for a full inquiry and called into question the transfer of prisoners from one prison to another.

Two nursing officers were being held

He added that it "was obviously a very distressing experience for those involved".

It is understood that the male officer overpowered the prisoner when he turned his back and the siege ended.

The matter is now the subject of a police inquiry.

The prisoner, George McGeogh, had been transferred from a prison in Inverness and was serving a life sentence.

The SSP spokesman said: "I can confirm that the incident which started at 8am has now been concluded.

Review imminent

"Both hostages have been released and the prisoner involved has been relocated to alternative accommodation.

"They don't appear to have suffered any physical injuries but obviously this has been a very distressing experience for everybody."

The latest hostage-taking incident at a Scottish prison came just over a week after two inmates held a prison officer hostage for around 20 hours.

Then, a warder who was taken prisoner at Craiginches jail in Aberdeen, was eventually freed unharmed after a day of negotiations.

The Prison Officers Association (Scotland) called for a review of the transfer system which deals with prisoner relocations.

The organisation's assistant secretary, Derek Turner, said: "We want this review because we have to have a look and see why certain things, like today's incident, have been happening.

"Given the fact there have been two situations in two weeks it seems like the sensible thing to do.

Derek Turner: "Officers will be very angry"

"If there are lessons to learn then they need to be learnt before this type of situation happens again.

"We also need to review the information that's available to people who work on the shop floor, the prison officers, who are the ones most at risk.

"This situation is not long over and we have not had a chance to talk to many officers but I imagine they will be very angry with what has been happening.

"There is already low morale among officers and there is a general feeling that the service is a bit shambolic at the moment.

"The fact prisons are being starved of cash does not help and it is about time the Scottish Executive looked at doing more financially for this sector along with schools and hospitals and so on. After all we provide a public service too."