The company which owns Scotland's private Addiewell prison has paid more than £3m to shareholders in less than two years despite serious concerns over prisoner and staff safety amid high levels of deaths and violence, The Ferret has found.

In total almost £20m has been paid out in dividends to shareholders since the prison opened in 2008. Yet in half of the years it has been open it has failed to meet agreed Scottish Prison Service standards, paying penalties as a result.

In January a murder inquiry was launched after an Addiewell prisoner was allegedly pushed and fell from a jail landing. He later died from his injuries. Last year there were more deaths at Addiewell, in West Lothian, than in any other Scottish prison.

A third of Addiewell Prison Limited's shares are owned by Soxedo Investment Services and 67 per cent are owned by Infrastructure Investment Holdings, an arm of London investment firm, HICL Infrastructure.

According to accounts for 2024, Addiewell Prison Limited paid over £3m in dividends to the two firms from April 2023 to November 2024.

The prison is run by facilities management company Sodexo under a private public finance (PFI) deal made in 2006 by Scotland's then Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition.

When shareholder payouts are prioritised over basic amenities for inmates, it can have tragic results.

Cat Hobbs, We Own It

Critics said "prisons should never be a place for the pursuit of private profit at the expense of vulnerable people" and said "profit-hungry companies" should have contracts for public services ended.

They claimed "serious issues specific to HMP Addiewell" need to be resolved "with some urgency' and there needed to be greater reinvestment in education, counselling and staffing levels to reduce violence and reoffending.

However, Sodexo said it was "subject to the same range of intensive scrutiny as all prisons" and was "building on progress" made to improve the prison's safety and operation record.

In recent years other serious concerns have been raised about the prison. A damning report published in May 2023 found less than a third of inmates said they felt safe. In reports found "credible" by inspectors, one in four claimed to have been assaulted, or abused by staff. Severe shortages of experienced staff was another issue raised.

In 2023 The Ferret reported that violent assaults were higher at Addiewell than at any other prison. A whistleblower claimed a culture of violence, fear and intimidation was rampant within the prison, and claimed that an inspectorate report painted a "rosy picture" compared with the reality.

Violent assaults increasing at Scotland's troubled private prison

They shared details of violent assaults including in public areas and involving homemade weapons, razor blades or scaldings. One email shared, originally sent by the then prison director, suggested the prison may never have been fully staffed at any point since it opened in 2008.

Addiewell's company accounts show that these failings also had a financial cost. Prison bosses had to pay the Scottish Prison Service £2.7m for failing to meet agreed performance indicators in the last financial year. In total Addiewell limited has paid £9m in fines since 2011.

Despite these fines the Scottish Prison Inspectorate has commended prison management for recent improvements. In its 2024 report inspectors said the level of serious concern had reduced dramatically while acknowledging that its journey to "transformation" was "by no means over".

In 2016 a parliamentary question revealed the prison would end up costing Scottish tax payers nearly £1billion over its 25 year contract - more than 12 times what it cost to build.

Addiewell is now Scotland's only private prison. His Majesty's Prison (HMP) Kilmarnock was formerly run by Serco, another outsourcing company, but was transferred back to the Scottish Prison Service on 17 March 2024.

According to financial journalist and author Ian Fraser the private finance initiative - or...