Claire Gardner, Scotland on Sunday

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/index.cfm?id=1196292002

Prison chiefs were more concerned about a "cult of lesbianism" than overcrowding at Scotland's only women's jail in the months before a spate of suicides, the outgoing prisons inspector has revealed.

Clive Fairweather says he was told the main problem at Cornton Vale was sexual relations between inmates shortly after he took up his post in 1994.

But in the following 15 months, six women were to kill themselves inside the notorious jail, the victims - according to their families - of chronic overcrowding and an uncaring regime.

Fairweather, who left his post on Friday after a turbulent and controversial eight years, writes in an exclusive article for Scotland on Sunday that not enough has been done to tackle Cornton Vale's problems.

Only last month, inmate April Adam, 35, became the 11th woman found hanged at the jail, near Stirling, since 1995.

And despite a Government pledge in 1998 to reduce numbers in the prison to 100, the current figure stands at approximately 260. The jail was intended to hold 230 prisoners.

Fairweather says the extent of the problems at Cornton Vale became apparent shortly after he took up his post.

He had pulled together a team of experts to conduct his inspections, including a deputy and a consultant doctor with experience in drug addiction.

He says: "The manifestation at Scotland's only female institution was three hangings and a number of suicide attempts in as many months, whereas I had been told the main problem was a cult of lesbianism.

"A fourth death caused me to abruptly cancel a planned visit to Longriggend Remand Institution, and instead an expanded inspection team was rushed to Cornton Vale.

"Once more I was shocked, this time by the near bedlam conditions found in some areas such as the remand block. Comparisons with a Romanian orphanage sprang to my mind as I listened to desperate groups of frail and bewildered women."

The solution to Cornton Vale's problems, he decided, was to reduce the number of petty offenders sent there. He said this still had not been done.

"Research clearly indicated that most women were more of a danger to themselves that they were to the public," he writes.

Jim Bollan, the father of Cornton Vale suicide victim Angela Bollan, who hanged herself in a cell in 1996, is a firm supporter of Fairweather's stance and is still campaigning for fewer petty criminals to be sent to Cornton Vale.

Bollan was outraged to hear that months before his daughter killed herself prison chiefs thought the only problem was a lesbian cult.

"It's an ignorant view and they clearly failed to spot the real issue - many of the women should not have been there in the first place," he said.

"There were, and still are, big issues to be tackled, drugs problems and the fact that so very many of the women should not be there in the first place."

Single mum Angela, 19, was one of eight young women who killed themselves at the prison within a 30-month period.

She was in the jail awaiting sentencing after stealing items worth just �19 to feed her heroin addiction.

Tory justice spokesman Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, the minister responsible for prisons when Fairweather became chief inspector, said he was not aware of a lesbian cult problem.

"I don't recall any official report containing this sort of information ," he said.

Tory deputy justice spokesman Bill Aitken said the number of women serving time for petty crimes had been reduced.

The overcrowding, he said, was due to an increase in the number of women committing serious offences - and it was this issue which needed tackling.

"It's important that we dispel the myth that many women are in Cornton Vale for petty crimes such as not paying bills," he said. "The majority are serving substantial sentences."

SNP deputy justice minister Michael Matheson said the Executive had failed to tackle the issue of overcrowding in Cornton Vale.

"They have failed to bring in sufficient alternatives to custody and they have failed to cut the number of female prisoners even though they made a commitment to it," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Executive said a ministerial group had been set up specifically to address the number of women in Cornton Vale.

She added: "The Executive is looking at ways of addressing long term issues about the prison population and while prison must remain an option to the courts there are some cases where alternatives to custody will provide ways of addressing offending behaviour without a prison sentence.