Inmates out to prove they’re a cut above

May 27 2008 by Andrew Welsh

SECURITY is expected to be tight at a prestigious hairdressing competition taking place in Perth tomorrow.

The unlikely reason organisers will be keeping a close eye on their ‘captive’ audience is because the event is taking place behind bars!

Inmates from Perth Prison hope to prove they are a cut above their rivals when they take on Polmont Young Offenders, Glenochil, Greenock and Cornton Vale in Scotland’s annual inter-prison hairdressing competition.

Scottish Prison Service barber Martin Williams, who runs a salon at the recently revamped Edinburgh Road jail, said many ‘hard cases’ have turned to hairdressing down the years and emerged as reformed characters.

“The salon is a key part of the prison’s occupational training,” said Martin yesterday. “Prisoners who are willing to learn can go on to teach hairdressing at various levels of skill and expertise.

“Those taking part in the competition will have been with local salons for months in some cases, in others just a few weeks.

“The aim is to have a walk-in service. Each establishment tries to make sure its own barber’s mirrors those on civvy street as much as possible.

“Our clients are prisoners coming in to get their hair cut. It’s pretty much a captive audience!

“But seriously, we try to teach the guys to respect the client as an individual, not a prisoner, which makes it easier to pass on skills and creates a better atmosphere as well.”

Between six and eight trainee cutters are employed at the salon at any time.

“Like the rest of us, the inmates require some of the basics in life and they don’t pay for a haircut,” said Martin.

“The salon is a facility we have to provide but, who knows, one day in the future someone might decide to change that.”

Martin said visitors are frequently surprised by the standard of the prison hairdressers.

“The guys work really hard. We service the whole of the establishment and we have a small barber’s at the Friarton Young Offenders Institute two miles away,” he said.

“That’s around 730 clients, and we aim to get through them all about once every six weeks.

“I always say the salon is run by the prisoners for them and they are very respectful of the place.

“We have no problem regarding graffiti damage and the salon is almost as good as it was the day it opened.”

Two cutters from each of the five prisons involved will compete for individual and team honours in tomorrow’s event, which is hosted on a rotational basis.