AN INMATE from Barlinnie Prison yesterday became the first prisoner in Scotland to appear in court without attending the hearing in person.

James, McKenzie, who faced eight driving and drugs-related charges, used a live television link between the jail and Glasgow Sheriff Court to improve court efficiency and free police for frontline duties.

He was fully committed for trial and his application for bail was refused.

Instead of the whole process taking hours, as it would under normal circumstances because of journey times from prison to court, the hearing was over in minutes and McKenzie returned to his cell.

The jail-to-court link, which already operates in England and Wales, is being piloted for six months in Glasgow at a cost of £215,000. If successful will be rolled out across Scotland as part of a court modernisation programme. Initially it will be used for full committal hearings only, a formality in private at which a prisoner is committed for trial.

Normally such hearings before a Sheriff last just a few minutes, but attending them from jail can take a full day, with prisoners routinely leaving their cells in the morning and sometimes not returning until 8pm. The system disrupts prison routines, such as visiting times and exercise periods, and raises security concerns.

It is expected that the special court room at Barlinnie will be used for about ten remand cases a week, rising to about 20 a week towards the end of the trial period.

Yesterday Hugh Henry, Deputy Justice Minister, said: “The use of this link is part of a drive to make use of technology to modernise the courts and provide a smarter, quicker criminal justice system.”

The link, established under the Criminal Justice (Scotland)Act 2003, was set up jointly by the Scottish Court Service and the Scottish Prison Service after wide consultation with the judiciary, the legal profession and other organisations within the criminal justice system.

Angela Morgan, director of Families Outside, said: “We welcome an initiative that reduces the time prison officers have to spend on things like escort duties, and instead frees them up for more active work with families, helping them support prisoners, which in turn makes them less likely to reoffend.”

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