Jimmy Boyle's transformation at Barlinnie

This is a Inverness news story, published by BBC, that relates primarily to Boyle news.

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Barlinnie Prison

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former gangland enforcer

BBC

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'Barlinnie destroyed me, but it also made me a better person'

Summary

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65% Informative

Jimmy Boyle served 14 years for the murder of William Babs ’ Rooney in 1967 .

During his early incarceration, he waged a one -man “war of attrition” on the prison system from inside Barlinnie ’s imposing walls.

He was transferred to the infamous cages’ at the former Porterfield Prison in Inverness , where the only facility was a concrete block on which to sleep.

Boyle was transferred back to the notorious special unit’ in the early 1970s .

He says he persuaded a corrupt officer to conceal knives so that he could pass them on to other prisoners in the bathroom.

The unit closed in 1994 after a total of.

The modern Barlinnie is a world away from the violence-ridden 'big hoose' of Boyle 's day.

Since opening in the city’s Riddrie in 1882 , its five blocks have been overcrowded.

One inmate took his own life and one other suffered a prescription drug overdose.

No staff were ever harmed during the unit's lifespan.

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informal