Murdo Macleod was a key figure in the development of a new type of high security prison in response to several security disasters at British prisons in the 1960s. As Regional Director of Prisons in the Midlands, he helped to guide the prison service through some of its most turbulent years when rioting became commonplace.

The escape of George Blake from Wormwood Scrubs Prison in October 1966 caused seismic upheavals within the prison service. Within two months, Lord Mountbatten completed a highly critical report into prison security that demanded unprecedented change. The service had become heavily preoccupied by the doubling of prisoner numbers — and consequent overcrowding — in the two decades after the Second World War. Suddenly security became the priority.

Macleod was one of those asked to develop a new type of top-security “dispersal prison” . He was posted to the recently-built Gartree Prison in Leicestershire and delivered substantial improvements to security while encouraging the staff and prisoners to adjust to the changes. Seeing Macleod’s aptitude for this challenging work, the Director-General dispatched him to a new prison at Long Lartin, Worcestershire, which was also being hastily upgraded to “dispersal” security standards. However, before Long Lartin had even received a prisoner, a more pressing assignment emerged at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, where a serious riot had taken place in 1969. The subsequent inquiry raised difficult questions about the handling of the riot by staff. Macleod was seen as the best person to tackle the problems uncovered at Parkhurst and to bring the prison’s security up to

“dispersal” standards.

On arrival at Parkhurst, Macleod quickly brought a sense of stability to staff and prisoners and started to rebuild a professional approach among staff. So successful was Macleod at recovering the situation at Parkhurst that he was soon promoted to Regional Director of Prisons. He took charge of the Midland region, a group of some 25 penal establishments, and guided the region through a turbulent period when prisoner disturbances were becoming increasingly violent and frequent.

As regional director, Macleod had to deal with a major riot at Gartree prison, the second in five years. In 1977, a prisoner escaped while being escorted by Leicester Prison staff. A highly critical inquiry followed and Macleod oversaw changes to many prisons. But the most persistent and challenging problem Macleod faced was the growing number of staff disputes which broke out across the service. Many of these led to industrial action — both official and unofficial. Amid all the industrial strife, on an unprecedented scale, there were substantial fears that security and control might break down completely. So serious did the situation become that in November 1978 the Home Secretary decided to set up the May Inquiry into industrial relations in the prison service. Meanwhile, Macleod had managed to maintain some stability in the Midland Region by his leadership, his calm approach and professionalism.

As a governor, he had a talent for making use of the abilities of staff in tackling whatever problems the prison faced, spending time listening to the ideas of staff and then quietly implementing change. Consequently he attracted considerable loyalty from staff and was greatly trusted and respected by his colleagues.

Murdo Donald Macleod — known as “Murdo Dan” — was born in Swordale, a crofting township on the Isle of Lewis. Gaelic was his first language until he went to school and learnt English. Perhaps as a result, he retained throughout his life a distinct Hebredian accent, which not everyone found easy to follow. His father died when he was young and the family struggled to survive. Macleod won a scholarship to the Nicholson Institute in Stornoway and attended as a weekly boarder. He developed into a talented footballer and might have joined a Scottish club on leaving school.

However, with the onset of the Second World War, he joined the Navy as an able seaman and was soon commissioned. He saw substantial active service largely in minesweepers in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean where he was fortunate to survive after the ship he was on was sunk. He spent long hours in the sea before being rescued. He was soon promoted to lieutenant, the rank he held when demobbed.

After the war he returned to the Isle of Lewis and, in 1947, he married Dolina, who was also from Swordale. Seeking work, he saw an advertisement for assistant governors in the English prison service. The service was expanding rapidly because of the sharp rise in prisoner numbers and the need to open new establishments. By 1949 he was working at Durham Prison, followed by a posting to Wakefield — where he had special responsibility for the satellite open prison at New Hall Camp — and then to the new open prison at Sudbury in Derbyshire. He was promoted to Deputy Governor at Bristol Prison in 1957. He was given his first command on promotion to Governor Class 3 in 1960 and given the task of converting a former Royal Naval Air Station into a new open prison in the village of Appleton Thorn near Warrington. Macleod successfully opened the prison and built up positive relations between the prison and the local community.

A measure of his growing reputation was that he was sent to temporarily take charge of Dartmoor in 1966 because of the serious illness of the then governor. The next year he was promoted Governor Class 2 and sent to Gartree, followed by a short period at Long Lartin. He was promoted to Governor Class 1 at Parkhurst in 1970 and to Regional Director of the Midlands in 1973. He was appointed CBE in 1980 at about the time he retired from the service. Macleod then moved to Grantham, where he worked for the Caledonian Mining Company.

His wife predeceased him in 2006. He is survived by two sons. A third son predeceased him by two days.

Murdo Macleod, CBE, prison governor and Regional Director of Prisons, was born on February 24, 1920. He died on December 16, 2008, aged 88