Barlinnie Prison
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| Location | Riddrie, Glasgow |
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| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 1018 |
| Population | 1600 (approx) |
| Opened | 1882 |
| Managed by | Scottish Prison Service |
| Governor | Jaclyn Clinton (Acting) |
HM Prison Barlinnie is a prison operated by the Scottish Prison Service and located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland.
Barlinnie was designed by Major General T.B. Collinson, architect and engineer to the Scottish Prison Department, and it was built in the then rural area of Riddrie adjacent to the Monkland Canal (now the route of the M8 Motorway), first opening with the commissioning of A hall in July 1882. Barlinnie prison consists of 5 accommodation halls: A, B, C, D and E, that were built in stages between 1882 and 1897, with each holding approximately 200 inmates. There was a major extension to the perimeter in 1967 to create an industrial compound. From 1973 till 1994, the world-famous "Special Unit" placed emphasis on rehabilitation, the best known success story being that of reformed Glasgow gangster Jimmy Boyle.
A total of 10 judicial executions by hanging took place at HMP Barlinnie between 1947 and 1960, replacing the gallows at Duke Street Prison before the final abolition of Capital punishment in the United Kingdom for murder in 1969:
Each of the condemned men had been convicted of murder. All the executions took place at 8.00 am. As was the custom, the remains of all executed prisoners were the property of the state, and were therefore buried in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison. During the D hall renovations of 1997, the prison gallows cell (built into D-hall) was finally demolished and the remains of all the executed prisoners were exhumed for reburial elsewhere. The first man to escape from Barlinnie was John Dobbie, three days after being sentenced to 15 years for a violent robbery in 1985. Dobbie escaped inside a laundry van, he was captured by armed police 5 days later and was sentenced to a further 5 years.
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