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At present, we have no access to the case management system and we are currently unable to take new Public Service Complaints or provide updates on cases. We are planning on the basis that this could continue for a period of time including next week.

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Decision report 201004626

  • Case ref:
    201004626
  • Date:
    August 2011
  • Body:
    Scottish Prison Service
  • Sector:
    Prisons
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, recommendations
  • Subject:
    Custodial services

Summary
Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that he was wrongly put in double handcuffs on a particular occasion and that the reasons for this had not been explained to him. Double handcuffs are a more secure version of normal single handcuffs. Despite extensive enquiries, we could not find any evidence of the type of cuffs used. We are an independent body and, therefore, cannot simply take one person's account in preference to that of another without firm, objective evidence. We, therefore, did not uphold the complaint although we made recommendations to try to avoid similar issues arising in future.

Recommendations
We recommend that Scottish Prison Service consider adding a box to the Personal Escort Record about what type of cuffs should be used.

We recommend that Reliance Custodial Services review certain aspects of their complaint handling and take action to prevent a recurrence.

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Updated: March 13, 2018