G4S mercenaries' private prison mess

This video from Parliament in London, England is called Olympic scandal as security firm G4S CEO Nick Buckles buckles under interrogation.

By Rory MacKinnon in Scotland:

‘Shoddy’ G4S slow to deliver

Thursday 06 December 2012

Disgraced Olympic privateer G4S has failed to get nearly a quarter of its charges to court on time, Scottish Prison Service figures revealed today.

The security contractor transported more than 85,000 prisoners between prisons, hospitals, courts and police stations in the first nine months of this year. Yet more than one in four cases saw the contractor fail to arrive on time, with 21,735 running late.

Transporting prisoners to court were just a fraction of those at 160 deliveries, but figures seen by the Morning Star show that 23.6 per cent of these were delayed and held up proceedings.

Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald, who first requested the figures, said the revelations proved G4S’s work was as “shoddy” as ever.

“I’m only relieved that they are being hit in the pocket for their poor performance,” he said, urging the SNP government to offer no more contracts to G4S until they improved.

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said that the number of delays had been “very small,” while a G4S spokesman claimed they had reduced late deliveries to court since April.

“While we are not complacent, this is encouraging progress,” he said.

The news follows the Olympic security scandal when army officers were drafted in after G4S admitted it had less half its contracted staff ready just two weeks out from the Games.

The company’s CEO Nick Buckles inflamed public anger even further when he told a panel of MPs that he would insist on collecting its full £57 million “management fee” on top of the original £86m deal.

Related articles

• Scottish News: G4S repeatedly late with prisoners (acadvertiser.co.uk)
• Olympic bunglers G4S fined £350,000 for court failings (dailyrecord.co.uk)
• G4S mercenaries get British taxpayers’ millions (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• G4 mess… scandal-hit security firm is fined £350,000 for court delays (express.co.uk)
• G4S loses Wolds prison contract (bbc.co.uk)
• Olympic security firm G4S loses Wolds prison contract (thetimes.co.uk)
• You: G4S loses Wolds prison contract (guardian.co.uk)
• Prisons have to change locks after losing keys (telegraph.co.uk)

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