Convicted sex offenders allowed pornography in Scottish prison

'Sex offenders need access to programmes which reinforce the importance of consent. Giving sex offenders access to pornography totally undermines this.'

HMP Glenochil near Tullibody in Scotland (Google Maps)

Convicted sex offenders at a Scottish prison have been allowed to access pornographic magazines as part of an agreement with the detention centre's governor.

HMP Glenochil, near Tullibody, houses around 600 prisoners of which half are sex offenders.

The move to allow pornography back into the prison has been attacked by sexual violence charities such as RapeCrisis.

Sandy Brindley from RapeCrisis Scotland told the Daily Record: "We’re extremely concerned as many of the messages in pornography reinforce the idea that women are permanently sexually available and that they say, ‘No’ when they mean ‘Yes’.

"Sex offenders need access to programmes which reinforce the importance of consent.

"Giving sex offenders access to pornography totally undermines this."

The decision as to whether to allow explicit magazines to inmates resides with each prison's governor.

The decision by Glenochil's governor was in response to prisoner request, a Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said.

Irenee O'Neill from the Independent Federation of Nurses has said that even considering "giving dangerous deviant offenders access to material which can only incite them further is reckless in the extreme".

The SPS said in a statement: “A decision has been taken to allow Glenochil prisoners to order and buy what is best described as soft porn magazines of the type available in newsagents and garages across the country.

“These publications are not illegal to purchase, therefore local management felt if inmates wished to order them through the prisoners’ canteen service, they should be able to.

“While prisoners are allowed to read these magazines in their own private space, it is expressly forbidden to display any of the naked images taken from the magazines as staff may find this offensive.

“We understand the decision to allow these magazines was in response to a prisoner request.”