PETERHEAD Prison - the notorious jail once dubbed “The Hate Factory” - finally closed its doors today without fanfare or ceremony.
Its closure, to pave the way for the new “super jail” in the Buchan town, will mark the end of one of the most turbulent eras in the history of Scotland’s prison system.
Originally built in 1888 to house the convicts who constructed the fishing port’s breakwater, Peterhead has incarcerated some of Scotland’s most infamous inmates, including Glasgow gangsters Jimmy Boyle and Arthur Thompson, serial killer Peter Tobin, and “Limbs in the Loch” murderer Williams Beggs.
And it also held - between his legendary escapes - one of the most colourful figures in Scotland’s penal history - “Gentle” Johnny Ramensky, the safe breaker and war hero who became a cult celebrity after escaping from the gaol a record five times - first in 1934, then again in 1952 and three times in 1958.
The prison, which later earned international accolades after being turned into the the main jail for Scotland’s sex offenders, last hit the headlines in 1987 when the SAS was brought in to end a dramatic siege in which veteran prison officer Jackie Stuart was held hostage for five days.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “There will be no ceremony to mark the closure today. There will be a flag-lowering ceremony on 23 December which will mark the formal closure of the site.
“The last of the prisoners left the prison last week. There will be no operational staff at the prison after today and only estate staff will be left.”
The prison is to be decommissioned before work starts within the next few weeks to completely demolish the jail.
Aberdeen’s Craiginches Prison is also due to close next month as part of the plan to transfer prisoners from the North east to the new HMP Peterhead in March. The new £140 million jail will be the first custom built community facing prison in Scotland.
SEE ALSO:
• ‘Superjail’ planned for Peterhead
Self-portrait of alleged victim Colin Penrose in 2011.
John Clark appeared at Glasgow  on Friday charged with murdering cellmate Colin Penrose, 22, in the city's .

Penrose, from the West Coast town of , had been recalled to prison for alleged further offending after being paroled from a sentence for sexual assault against a teenager. Police Scotland confirmed they were called to the prison, Scotland's largest, shortly after 2:00am on Thursday when Penrose was found dead in the cell.

Clark has been remanded pending a full committal hearing next week. Clark is variously reported to be either 21 or 22.

Penrose died on the top floor of the jail's E Hall. E Hall includes accommodation for vulnerable prisoners.

Penrose, who attended , is survived by his parents, both 60. He listed himself on Facebook as single but had liked a dating page, and according to his profile was seeking employment. "I hate football and I hate the police", his profile reads, adding he enjoyed a drink at the weekend.

In early 2012 he uploaded a photo of himself with a swollen eye. Without explaining the injury he asked "does anybody want to say anything about my eyes in this picture or do you not give a shit what happens to me"? He received no response until a year later, when the reply "thats what happens to beasts

" was received.

Several friends posted condolences to his page after his death. One claimed he had been strangled.

The famous four-storey Victorian prison is routinely overcrowded, with prisoners sharing cells meant for individual use. With drug use at over 80% of the population, Barlinnie is Western Europe's largest dispenser of  substitute .
HMP Barlinnie from file.
In 2011 governor Derek McGill complained "If we could eliminate overcrowding, we could do more with the prisoners." He was speaking after an inspector branded the facility unsafe for prisoners and staff alike due to chronic overcrowding. Scottish Executive  spending cuts around the same time reduced the 's building funds significantly.

Plans are nonetheless afoot to replace Barlinnie with a new prison, to be called . The Prison Service is tendering for consultants to identify potential sites. Although the Scottish Government aims to reduce prisoner populations the new prison is to be more than twice the size of Barlinnie.

The nation's sex offenders were, until recently, usually all held at . The internationally-acclaimed sex offender treatment center was permanently closed late last year and the inmates moved elsewhere. Peterhead prison has been replaced with the 140 million "super prison" , built next door to the Peterhead site. Men, women, and young offenders are all held at the prison for the first time at a Scottish jail and the first inmates arrived this month.  has also closed and been replaced with the new jail. 

Homicide behind bars is unusual in Scotland, though there have been cases in 2006 and 1996. Neighbouring England has seen a spate recently, including four last year. Those four deaths were all charged as murder and represented the highest  total since 1998.


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