Families ‘to sue prison’ where loud inmates ‘terrorise kids’ with screaming

Residents living near a jail are preparing to take legal action after they claim they have been “terrorised” by expletive-ridden shouting, fighting and late-night singing coming from a nearby all women’s prison.

Parents say the foul-mouthed racket coming from HMP Stirling means they have to put ear defenders on their children or move out of their homes at weekends to get any peace and now locals want to sue the Scottish Prison Service. In an audio recording inmates can be heard screaming the words to Tell Me Why by 90s American boy band The Backstreet Boys.

Residents in the Forth Park Estate at Bridge of Allan, just 30 metres from the £85million prison say the racket means they cannot use their gardens and they have resorted to taking legal action against the Scottish Prison Service after claiming the service has failed to do enough.

Even keeping the windows closed is not enough, according to the parents of schoolgirl Lara Mills, aged eight, who was so disturbed by the foul-mouthed screeching from the jail that she has to sleep wearing headphones. “One night they were all partying and singing pop songs, screaming them out. My kids are wearing headphones to block out the noise at night and they’re terrified,” dad Barry explained. “We’re now looking for a lawyer to represent us because this situation has destroyed our lives.”

Neighbour Tony Macaulay told the Sunday Mail : “We are the ones in a prison because we can’t go outside, we don’t want to open our windows and we are afraid all the time.” A third resident, who has two children with autism, said how she packs up and leaves her own home every weekend to take refuge with friends and family when the swearing and screaming becomes worse.

The state of the art prison is less than a year old, opening its doors last May, and it houses women and female young offenders. Locals said they had not expected noise issues from their new neighbour as they were used to living beside the former Cornton Vale jail which stood 300 metres to their homes.

No noise assessment was carried out before the site opened, The Scottish Prison Service has admitted, as it was not a legal requirement. The campus-style prison features windows able to be freely opened and closed as part of offering a more wellbeing-focused environment for female inmates. But this feature has allowed noise to travel to the housing estate from the jail’s accommodation blocks.

Teacher Barry, 49, said: “I go to work and look forward to coming home to relax but ever since the prison opened none of us have been able to do that. It’s hell. We’ve been completely shafted by the prison service and the government.”

Tony, 66, has lived on the estate for more than 20 years with wife Mary and their two teenage grandchildren. The maintenance worker said: “The impact this has had on our mental health is horrendous. My grandson can actually see into the prison through his bedroom window and he can see into the cells. The women have shouted over at him.

“I can name probably a dozen prisoners in there, first and second names, just because I’ve heard them shouting at one another and talking. We’ve tried everything – raising questions in parliament, speaking with the prison governor. They say they are going to make improvements but it isn’t changing. This used to be a great place. We just want our lives back.”

The mum with special needs children, who did not want to be named, said her families lives told how their family life has been wrecked. She said: “My children can’t really go out to play and if they do I have to check first to make sure that it’s quiet and keep an eye on them the whole time.

“I don’t know if they have fewer staff or less activities going on but the weekends seem to be constantly kicking off. I’ve kept records of every incident and have sent it to the prison service but we’ve just given up now as it’s happening so often.”

Another man who has lived on the estate for 20 years with his wife said: “We have a train line nearby and when we’ve spoken to the prison service about the noise, one of the officers actually said they thought the train would be noisier. “The difference is that trains do not scream and swear in the middle of the night. It’s terrifying really.

“If you heard these noises outside your house you’d phone the police but we can’t. We’ve got nothing against the prisoners, it’s not about having prisoners there. It’s about the noise and we want to make that clear.”

Prison bosses are looking at whether prisoners could be relocated to other blocks on site to reduce the noise as well as making improvements to landscaping in the area. The Scottish Prison Service said plans include planting trees and hedges, and putting up metal boards.

A spokesman said: “We fully understand the disruption noise from HMP & YOI Stirling can cause and remain committed to being a good neighbour to everyone in the community. Our staff continue to work hard to support those in our care, to manage and intervene in moments of upset, and so reduce the impact on those living in the surrounding area. We are looking at a number of short-term and long-term measures in terms of how we manage the establishment, the wider estate, including landscaping, and these are detailed on our website, which we continue to update as further actions are taken.”

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