John Fanning described the prison as a “two-star hotel” where everything is bought for you.
04:30, 05 Apr 2026Updated 08:39, 05 Apr 2026
Barlinnie prisoner, JP(Image: CREDIT LINE:Friel Kean Films)
A Barlinnie prisoner has lifted the lid on Scotland’s spiralling drug crisis behind bars claiming inmates are routinely “right out of their nut” to get through the day. John Fanning, known as JP, a 28-year-old convict serving a three-year sentence for assault and robbery, described the jail as a “two-star hotel” where everything is bought for you and has said he expects to die in the institution.
He is one of a number of cons interviewed for a shocking new BBC documentary series which follows the lives of inmates battling addiction amid a flood of illegal substances while serving time in the country’s largest and most infamous jail. The Victorian-age Glasgow prison is crammed with over 1400 inmates across five halls where prisoners share cells and can be locked behind cell doors for up to 23 hours a day.
Against this backdrop, cons and staff battle to cope in an overcrowded system under strain. Bar-L is due to be replaced by over budget HMP Glasgow in 2028, three years later than planned.
HMP Barlinnie(Image: CREDIT LINE:Friel Kean Films)
Viewers will see JP’s on-going struggle to stay sober against a backdrop of abuse, trauma and drugs. The addict who began smoking crack at 13 and taking heroin at 15, said: “Some people can go through their whole lives without a chemical substance but I’ve got far too many problems to stay 100 per cent sober.
“I wish we didn’t have to get out our nut to just get through one day but look at what we’re dealing with in here. It’s easier for me in here than out there.
“I was homeless, had nowhere to go, just had to do mad stuff to get by like rob Greggs just to eat. In here I get a bed, don’t have to pay any bills. Everything is basically brought to you.
“People say it’s brutal being locked up but this is a two-star hotel to me. I’ve been locked up my full life. I’ve been in homes since I was two months old, I’m a product of the care system.
“I’m just one of these people, I’ll get out and come back here. That’s just my life. I’ll probably die in the jail and I’ve made peace with that.”
Barlinnie prisoner, JP talks about his ongoing battle with addiction (Image: CREDIT LINE:Friel Kean Films)
The first hour-long episode shows JP being reprimanded by staff after being caught using. He was later taken to hospital, where medics battled to save his life after he overdosed on a ‘legal’ infused vape in the exercise yard.
The episode also featured 30-year-old Norry Broadley, who is serving 18 months for assault. Norry, who has used for most of his time inside and overdosed said: “I smoked a bit of legal and was found dead behind my cell door.
“I don’t know for how long but maybe 20 or 30 minutes – the staff thought I was gone. I woke up to find doctors and an ambulance which scared me.
“I’m trying to stay off it but it’s really hard. It’s an escape for me, why I take drink and drugs, just to escape from the world. But when I sober up and come to reality I’m reliving it again.”
The inside of HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow(Image: SWNS)
After attempting suicide in the past, Norry is later transferred to a safe cell for the night after threatening self-harm. He said: “I’m having a hard time just now, I’m back on the drugs and I’m just out the suicide gaff because I was in a bad way last night.
“I wasn’t going to carry it through, I just needed someone to talk to. I need the help, my nine lives are running out.
“It’s not doing anything to me but killing me. My body is rejecting it, whereas I’m like but ‘I want it in my system.’
“I’m fighting a losing battle. I hope they can put something in place for me because I’ll just be stupid and no matter how many times they find me dead, I’ll still take it.”
Barlinnie prisoner Norry(Image: CREDIT LINE:Friel Kean Films)
The series also sees prisoner Ryan Grace, or RJ, one of the most violent prisoners in the system having been moved from jail to jail due to his violent behaviour. RJ, who is serving two and a half years for a slashing, has been clean for 14 months.
After ditching drugs he hasn’t had any fights and is trying to turn his life around. That is thanks to the Recovery cafe, a weekly support group run by charity Sisco helping prisonersto get clean, and also a Bible study class.
Barlinnie inmate RJ(Image: HANDOUT)
However RJ’s high court case for an outstanding matter involving a former partner is forced to be rescheduled when he is deemed unfit for trial after taking a ‘legal’ filled vape on the way to court. Earlier this year, new figures revealed only 48 out of around 8200 prisoners in Scotland’s jails had participated in a ‘flagship’ scheme to help them beat drug and alcohol addiction.
Inside Barlinnie lays bare how rife illicit subtances are in a decade-long rise in drug use and deaths since psychoactive sub-stances, or ‘legal’ highs, started flooding in.
Mick Stoney, Governor of Barlinnie (Image: CREDIT LINE:Friel Kean Films)
Barlinnie governor Mick Stoney reveals: “It’s a constant battle to keep drugs out through visits, throw-overs, and drones. The hardest thing is the huge unpredictably, some-one could take something that sends them over the edge and therefore present as violent, aggressive or psychotic and staff are having to try and control that individual.”
- Inside Barlinnie is a Friel Kean production for BBC Scotland. Both episodes are available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday.
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