HMP Barlinnie Special Unit 1976

[@DocuVisonTV]

When I watch these old documentarys it always strikes me how articulate people used to be. How times have changed. I can only assume the school system was alot better back in the day

[@markstarmer3677]

It was

[@seltaeb9691]

People didn't walk about head down burrowing into their phones. We chatted or read books, paper etc.

[@bobbysutherland4700]

They didn’t take the fannying about that kids get upto these days that’s for sure

[@colinmacgregor3397]

Might have been a better school system, but most of these guys didn’t stay in it very long

[@LadyCleo1]

It was

[@JockGit64]

I grew up in the shadow of Barlinnie, my Dad being a prison officer there. As a kid I would often see Jimmy Boyle, in the RS McColl newsagents, in the morning buying his papers. Great documentary, I remember my Dad explaining to me what the Unit was all about. Great Documentary.

[@Rutherglen1969]

My dad was Ronnie Mora. He helped to co found the SU in around 1972. He died a year before this was filmed

[@Rutherglen1969]

@@jameslarkin8494 eh ?

[@weejoe-c4n]

@@Rutherglen1969 Ronnie Morran-ive heard the name friend.Sorry to see he passed away

[@Rutherglen1969]

@@weejoe-c4n Thanks. My dad died in 1975

[@jamiecoulson1016]

Your dad was an animal ​@@Rutherglen1969

[@seanb3204]

some of those hairstyles were worthy of a life sentence

[@paulmcdonough1093]

your still in prison then i guess ha ha

[@seanb3204]

no I'm jealous as I'm going bald@@paulmcdonough1093

[@BazGent-t2r]

😅

[@gtavmj-1852]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@seanb3204]

they sure do. I bet there's film of someone's 21st party from back then and we'll think it's a retirement party@GeorgeThomson-ri3wd

[@Loulou-vs4xg]

Since I’ve found this ytube channel isa hooked the wife is watching Netflix and I’m back in the 70s80s it’s a bit depressing but something in me likes watching makes me glad i was a kid back then and not a adult….. great channel

[@Wulfyr]

I know what you mean. It can be easy to be nostalgic about the 70s when viewing the decade through the eyes of a young child. I was three when this was aired. I'm half Scottish on my Mum's side and a member of her family had a high ranking job at Barlinnie in the pre-war years. The 70s always look grimmer on film than I remember them. It was all Dr Who, space-hoppers and "For Mash get Smash" in my rose-tinted memories...

[@DonnellOkafor-r2d]

Netflix is leftist trash

[@Loulou-vs4xg]

⁠​⁠@@WulfyrI was born 74 I remember the summers being longer and warmer and winters raining every day my wife’s dad is Scottish fun fact 😂😃👍♥️

[@davidstewart4825]

remarkable documentary...Jimmy boyle a very hard man turned his life around..became an accomplished sculptor...wrote a book too...

[@Rutherglen1969]

My dad was a co.founder of the SU, in around 1972. Many of these guys in this film would've known him. He died a year before this was filmed. I believe the SU was closed around the late 80's.

[@lymarie1974]

Sorry for your. loss. ❤

[@s4squatch1]

Most of these guys wouldn't look out of place on an episode of Top Of The Pops from 1976.

[@brendandunleavy1399]

🤣It's like the sensational Alex Harvey band were all locked up at the same time.

[@rodkirkbride2230]

​@@brendandunleavy1399😅

[@boabie1463]

Heroin and coke wasn’t so prevalent back then 😅

[@Daniel-deMerrivale]

Yes! The bloke at 11:45 is, I’m sure, related to Leo Sayer😊

[@gordonbentley5170]

1970s haircuts in 1976. Wow utterly amazing. Who would have believed that?

[@gachrudgaelach]

JB's book ( A sense of freedom ) was one of the first books I ever read as a young man 30 years ago. I hadn't seen an interview with him until about a year ago, I'm still amazed at how well spoken he is. In the book he spoke a lot about that prison. One would wonder how a seemingly intelligent man went so far down the wrong road?

[@colinmacgregor3397]

He definitely self educated in prison, his early years were troubled and violent, with little to no education

[@kevinmulligan9055]

Exactly same for me. I found it in my school library 1983-4 and sat and read it from cover to cover in English class in forfar academy. I was fascinated by it. I then read many books after and still read to this day. Quite a few later became movies such as "the making of the atom bomb" which is the basis for the film oppenhiemer. I read that must be 30 years ago. Or the right stuff that chartered the race to space. I've read many of prison books such as brehdan behans borstal boy, midnight express, marching powder, and great fascination biographies about Howard Hughes, Andrew carnage and dozens of others. I've read a thousand sci-fi books and books on everything from Bill Gates creating Microsoft to the rock bios on pink Floyd. But for me it all started reading jimmy boyles book a sense of freedom.

[@JimB-d3b]

As someone who has spent years within the confines of the SPS,these projects fail as the Government does not want people to go out and not come back. Too many people depend on recidivism to keep them in a job.

[@gazsm1]

It's amazing that all these guys are well-spoken and articulate, a sign of a decent education. Take their equivalents today, and I doubt any modern 'lifer' could express themselves anywhere near as well.

[@BadgerLaser]

just thinking that these chaps are alot more eloquent than your contemporary thug - maybe the real maniacs weren't eligible for special unit ...

[@edwardanderson2717]

Absolutely and amazing work helping people in recovery, I was just making a light hearted comment on my earlier comment, lots of love and respect for how jimmy turned his life around to help others and to set a good example 🙏

[@realmccoy69]

The place was rife with drugs

[@AlanaRenton]

Still the same

[@markrichards1953]

I was just released from 1974 & they gave me the same clothes to wear that I went in with,must say I couldn’t find anybody else goin about with 8 inch silver platforms,a top hat covered in mirrors & a moth eaten Slade T-shirt!

[@kevincritchley1123]

😂

[@garybarr2023]

You could've got someone to hand you in newer clothes right...

[@markrichards1953]

@@garybarr2023 where’s the fun in that? I’m still a Slade fan.

[@pauljones8218]

@@markrichards1953 back in the day i was a slade fan trex bowie and many other bands the 70s was great time for music i remember when don powell had his car crash i was like oh no is that the end of slade but luckly don was ok after a while mama we are all crazy now

[@BlytheWorld1972]

You will be in nappy's now though eh big man

[@yesenochwasRIGHT]

Strange Boyle mentioned he wanted a deterrent for his son and youths. His son became a victim to crime. Sad indeed.

[@frankmurphyburr3598]

My dad spent 30 days in Barlinnie in 1968, I was there doing three months in 1978 (met these guys), I eventually played a gig or two there in early 90s.

[@aalexjohna]

You evil murderer.

[@john-bo9ve]

How did you find these guys frank? As in-"what were they like in your opinion bro?

[@colaikman1761]

After reading the book and seeing the film, i kinda had an image in my head about how insane Jimmy would have looked, but to see him here, so articulate, intelligent and so calm, just a normal dude, it totally strips away the image of the madman that he was growing up in the Gorbals. What a transformation.

[@kennysherlock6534]

I find it really fascinating how well these men speak . I'm from Glasgow myself .... and if you done similar interviews now in the same prison ..... I think you'd be hard pressed to find any prisoner as articulate as some of these men .

[@oryctolaguscuniculus]

"Carbisdale - where mountains grew, and flowers. the air was sensual with a miracle of feminine odours. pregnant shrubs watched and each pollinated hymen was matter's transformation to life, then i realised my body a temple undefiled and i was ten years old already. tingle toward puberty and fulfilment, the outpour of my heart to the naked forest; swift foot hushed fallen leaves and twigs; unafraid and unclad child, air-kissed skin laughing, brushed fern fronds' tingle" "Carbisdale", from "The Silent Scream" by Larry Winters. It's extraordinary to think that a man who gouged a prison officer's eye out with a chib was capable of writing of such sensitivity.

[@Dogdayafternoon4325]

It is crazy but apparently his psychiatrist said he had an IQ of 164 which is extremely rare

[@lica1598]

AHHHH!! I'm soooo loving these original old skool documentaries! 💯💙👍✌️🌞

[@leonardhaddlesey517]

Me too ❤

[@andrewbravery5114]

Just here to listen to the word "murder" I miss Taggart!

[@joannamillan8882]

Love Taggart!

[@ianwhitehead691]

"There's been a Murder" 😂🤣

[@Citrusblue1]

Taggart is on Drama late on a Sunday night.

[@philipboffey8630]

You mean moordoor

[@johnbate117]

A murrrrder😂

[@jupiter-8405]

Even violent and disruptive prisoners are well spoken here. These days prisons are full of errrrr, 'different people'.

[@alfsmith4936]

innit

[@zivkovicable]

Per capita violent crime has fallen across the UK since 1976. So what if people are "different".

[@sunlion0]

Well spoken psychopaths, just what we always wanted

[@maggiefisker994]

@@zivkovicablehhmmm

[@longshotkdb]

@@zivkovicable He means he'd rather be stabbed by a polite white man than even look at foreigners. Just too cowardly to straight say it.

[@pifflepockle]

I grew up with a view of this from the living room window. Thankfully didn’t pay a visit at her majesty’s pleasure 😂

[@bengaliinplatforms1268]

The old suicide pact prank, she’ll be mortified with that

[@BenJohnstone-bd8lw]

What was his name he was fucked up!

[@Emmalittlepengelly1690]

I initially prejudged Larry Winters when I first started watching, his appearance made me think he was a bit crazy. When started speaking, I started to realise he was very articulate. I read the comments and saw he had written poetry and there was a film about him. Shows that we need to think about the causes to crime more, Larry was a ticking bomb. Fascinating documentary.

[@cosmicdebris42]

Never knew Bon Scott did porridge at Barlinnie.

[@Meddled]

Half these guys were in the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

[@DonnellOkafor-r2d]

He was from Scotland

[@cosmicdebris42]

@@DonnellOkafor-r2d Ha Ha Me Too. I knew Bon Moved from Scotland to OZ as a Child but i don't think he managed to do time in Barlinnie before he left.

[@TheRowlandstone73]

Larry actually reminded more of Angus! 🤘😛

[@kenirving5240]

Jimmy Boyle! Presuming that Larry is Larry Winters and Ben is Ben Conroy? Sorry to not put a face to the name with regards to Ben. Thanks for posting this historically significant documentary.

[@alfieunit2237]

Larry Winters died of an overdose in there, drugs brought in to him by I think that JC guy who cooks the meals. There's a film about Larry's life called Silent Scream. Very violent but very highly intelligent man by all accounts.

[@Weegus]

barbiturates if I remember right so it said in the sense of freedom.

[@kevross8636]

How many years did Larry serve ?

[@colinmacgregor3397]

@@kevross8636about 13 years, till his death

[@kenneththompson8933]

Larry Winters was a prolific poet. He had a assessed IQ as Mensa entry level of genius level. His poetry is amazing

[@BenJohnstone-bd8lw]

Who were the other prisoners in there and how long was it open.?

[@CRAIG5835]

I thought it was Jimmy Boyle, being a Kiwi there wasn't any info regarding JB so my first introduction to Jimmy was seeing the movie about him. Hearing him talk in this vid made me think 'This guy is quite eloquently spoken I wonder if it is JB but it dawned on me that this guys name in the credits was Jimmy and 90% chance it is he, JB. He really lived up to the potential he exhibited during his 'Porridge' years and good on him for that, best to you Jimmy should you fluke upon this comment, Ya did Good Kid.

[@chrishennessy294]

Yes he is a success story and has done a lot. I wasn’t sure if it was him as I haven’t seen the end of this documentary obs the end credits but some folks from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 have confirmed it’s jimmy Boyle. Great author 👍🏻

[@CRAIG5835]

Indeed Chris.@@chrishennessy294

[@Victor-z7t6q]

Defo Jimmy Boyle

[@rocky3268]

Aye its Jimmy 💯✌🏻​@user-nr9pl4ir4o

[@zamiadams4343]

Boyle was a bully, I'm from Glasgow and from a much diffrent generation but I worked beside a guy who knew Boyle and his brothers and said they were out and out bullies. "A Sense of Freedom" gave him his fame but he was a bad bastard.

[@tobleramone]

I hate the fetish for commenting how things were better in the past but in that vein I can't imagine a prisoner today describing their feelings about the length of their sentence with "It's deflated me somewhat".

[@Daniel-deMerrivale]

Totally agree with you. Those today who keep saying “better in the past” were obviously not living then. Life did start to improve somewhat sometime in the 80’s, but the 50,60,70’s could be very hard and many people today would not like the way it was then at all.

[@legitorecords5701]

Its got more comfortable for most but considering how may suicides, anti-depressants and anxiety cases there are now, the evidence would suggest life is worse now.@@Daniel-deMerrivale

[@MancstaSam]

I was born in 78 and I'd definitely say the 80s and 90s were better times to live in than today despite all the mod cons and technology we have today

[@tobleramone]

Life was better when you were a kid and had fewer, if any, responsibilities.@@MancstaSam

[@jota55581]

​@@Daniel-deMerrivaleprison now days is a piece of cake ..i know .

[@framob]

And 20yr later I became the new experiment at Shotts. Was never educated in the care system though I was constantly told I was University material. Thankfully Dr Ian Steven’s knew a bit about how I ended up in prison,information was shared & they came & took me out my cage in Perth hence he said ‘I should have been given a medal & not locked up’ .So his solution was the Shotts Special Unit. That’s about all I can say but you really learn a lot about yourself when you’ve been locked in a cage for 30 months. Education,education,education is all I’ll say never turn down being educated. We learn from the cradle to the grave so always accept or seek out education.

[@framob]

I must say around 42mins there’s guy with tie & guy with white kinda jacket/overalls on & they’re talking about the press’s reaction to Jimmy Boyle being out,one of them is Ken Murray who was hugely instrumental in setting up the Unit but never gets any recognition. I don’t know why even though I hacked the SPS network in Shotts ,I should say it wasn’t maliciously,I basically just wanted to know how much was in the budget for education. I’d been told all my life how intelligent I was but let myself get manipulated by older people,right up to early 90’s then a relative used my intelligence in terms of how quick I would pick things up. Thus I ended up in SA being trained in a certain tradecraft that has more or less disappeared nowadays & sadly if it hadn’t a lot more lives could’ve been saved here & abroad. I worked in Ken’s daughter’s house painting & decorating but sadly I never got to meet Ken because it wasn’t until 96 I became the new experiment in dealing with violent prisoners. Weird the way life works out because I actually reside in where Jimmy Boyle came from but it’s a totally different place now. Interesting video from a social viewpoint but bit more personal to me because of the upbringing I had in the care system to how I ended up learning a certain type of trade craft to how my actual life is now. Maybe just maybe if someone had took the time Dr Steven’s or Jackie Clinton (deputy Governor of Shotts Special Unit,previously Governor 4 of Glenochil) had took the time they did to help me get proper education,maybe my love of computing & white hat hacking could’ve took a greater turn & I’d be running some kind of Universal Security network to keep people safe online. As that if we deal with the climate will be our next global problem if we do manage to sort the climate out. Just remember education is the gateway to a good life & you’re never too young or too old to learn something new.

[@dannypaterson888]

All of these old prison docs show inmates with a far higher eloquence and average IQ than current jailbirds and low income classes . The difference is so stark i have wonder if there's something perhaps in the modern diet that is reducing average IQ in the population.

[@argopunk]

Years of dumbing down the western world's public education systems. The focus gradually shifted from reading, writing and arithmetic to gender, sexuality, race and Leftist politics.

[@legendaryjonblue]

I noticed the same thing in the old Strangeways documentary's. Modern prisoners are far less articulate and some seem barely educated. What happened in the 80s and 90s?

[@barryhamilton7845]

Times change,generations change,and the fact social media and the world wide web has been about for about 30 year now has totally changed the world.Back then,you had books a but if education and some television if you were lucky to see it,so people back then had a different mi d set,and cons stuck together mist of the time.When televisions came into prison in the late 90s it changed the prison system,people didn't stick together as much because they didn't want to miss Coronation street,so would rather sit in their cell and watch it instead of backing bother cons up over corruption,brutality etc etc.Plus the late 80s going into the 90s saw the influx of numerous different drugs being avaliable especially ually class As like Heroin where it bit only killed people but took the heart of of certain people who would once fight the system or at least protest against the system,so Heroin was an escape where people got themselves habits and escaped the monotony of everyday prison life. These wherebsome of the reasons why prisons changed,and the fact time and places evolve. Now most of the modern cons want to be the next Pablo Escobar,and your worst enemy in prison is the guy wearing the same colour of jumper orbt-shirt as you,its not necessarily the screws.

[@captainflint89]

Heroin happened

[@Deadbmw]

I suspect it has less to do with food than with the diet of idiocy the population are fed through schools , the television and social media.

[@cglees]

These guys are all so interesting to listen to

[@roddymcniven8734]

Would you still say that if they’d killed one of yours? Nah, thought not.

[@StuD65]

Ask their victims if they think the same,..you're a fricking twat..

[@karenblack4702]

Good greif , treatin people like people works ! Have we all not made mistakes ? Some people come from such hard childhoods , there is ptsd , multiple issues ! Y cannot we nit still look holistically at individuals ? ! These are smart guys x

[@jordo9367]

A couple a quid and hes coming back wae 10 slice 10 rolls , 2 tins a baked beans , 16 links feeding a full hall for £2 🥵😂 bring them days back eh

[@Dramapalmer]

It would be so interesting to see where they are now 👌🏼

[@jordo9367]

Nae doubt 8 feet deep dude 😅😂

[@Dogdayafternoon4325]

Larry is dead Jimmy is still alive Rab was released in about 1977 and so was JC

[@kenneththompson8933]

Jimmy Boyle became an profilic & successful sculptor & author. He opened a project in Glasgow like the SU to help ex offenders. He married his psychiatrist named Sarah but they later divorced. He now lives France & is married to his second wife a British actress. He is a successful property developer.

[@Donaldtrunp2024]

Do u know all there full names​@@Dogdayafternoon4325

[@Weegus]

Mr Jimmy Boyle still going strong through his art.

[@jerryoshea3116]

Yes,it's great how he turned his life around,.He acquired a whole new Philosophy to life!

[@MarkBates566]

Boyle was a money lender who prayed on the weak of Glasgow. He turned his life around after jail . He is now a wine-connoiseur and writer, living part-time in France. He also makes large contributions to the British Labour Party.

[@BlytheWorld1972]

still a twat though ..

[@maccamcfcflc]

The Bay City Rollers have let them self go.

[@clairexxx7473]

This made me laugh way too hard!😂😂

[@carolyngrant2584]

Very funny you wouldn't have said that to Jimmy Boyke in his prime

[@DonnellOkafor-r2d]

The Scottish accent is my favorite. Im from New Orleans Louisiana

[@BLUETOOTH48]

Shakey Steven's glad he never found out what was behind the green door

[@andysmith8890]

Jimmy Boyle is an inspirational Tale and illuminating about how we judge and label people

[@tdukts]

🥬cabbage🤣 Excellent 70s Patter

[@JamieB-kt8sr]

My uncles all went through Special Unit. This was after years of rioting and escaping to protest the conditions in Scottish prisons. My mum said the whole family could go up to visit and bring guitars and other music instruments along with booze (that would be snuck in) and they would all have a party. You’d never believe you were in a prison.

[@DonnellOkafor-r2d]

A family of losers.

[@Mark-fx1zj]

Loved it thanks very much

[@daveenglish2]

J.C. Smith - Ian Breckenridge - Rab Wallace - Jimmy Boyle - Larry Winters.

[@soulbrother61]

I'll google these guys

[@daveenglish2]

@soulbrothers62 - Good luck, let us know how you get on. I couldn't get any info on the first three except Breckenridge was sentenced in 1968, Edinburgh High Court for killing his girlfriend in West Kilbride, Ayrshire. Apparently the BBC did a documentary on him "Birdman" sometime ago. Winter's older brother & what happened to him might be worth following up, as he sounds worse than Lawrence.

[@shanefrance5071]

Prisons depressing value your freedom with the love of life outside the walls...

[@toppertruthio]

When a murderer asks in prison if he can have have access to scrap metal to make sculptures.the answer should be .....NO😮

[@johnmcawlay]

r.i.p Larry-W

[@jep1912]

How the English language has been ruined. These guys can talk properly.

[@peternagy-im4be]

English?

[@georgerichardson7728]

@@peternagy-im4be yes, that's what they're talking, with a Glasgow or Scottish twist to it, or do you think that's Gaelic?

[@edwardanderson2717]

Little did people know that jimmy boyle would turn his life around 💯and become a amazing author and help people but also his name jimmy boyle became slang for foil to smoke the naughty!! Funny old world 🌎 😂

[@jamessones4044]

Chuck me that Jimmy,I’m sick as f. 😂😂😂😂

[@edwardanderson2717]

@@jamessones4044 Ha Ha !!! Any jimmy on the firm !!😂😂

[@Skelp-x1h]

Better known for his sculptures

[@barryhamilton7845]

In the jail, he's probably more known for foil than he is for sculptures. Ask anyone to name a sculpture he's done,or even a type of sculpture? But ask someone to name a make of foil and they'll probably be able to tell you,or even where you can get foul wether it be from Amber leaf packets,small butter portions,all the places people know if you've done a bit of Porridge.

[@edwardanderson2717]

In 92 in scrubs inmates would use Kit Kats , this was slip out days and you could have £50 private cash once a week so you could buy Kit Kats and you could buy £2 phone cards and inmates would use them for to buy gear in there it was 5 x£2 phone cards for a bag of gear then the dealers would sell the phone cards for cash and send it out in letters to there people to buy more gear and this went on until they stopped selling Kit Kats , the screws turned a blind eye to it because the remand wing had a lot of tension as people didn’t know what sentences they were going to get and the gear kept everyone chilled and stoned and they preferred that then inmates going through withdrawal and becoming violent!!! ,

[@stephenbarningham330]

THATS JIMMY BOYLE! HE HAD A MOVIE MADE ABOUT HIS EXPLOITS CALLED "A SENSE OF FREEDOM"! GOOD BOOK AS WELL!

[@michaelharrison3602]

He followed it up with a book called "the pain of confinement "about his time in prison another great book

[@HughJohn-s1n]

Thxs for that sherlock holmes 😂😂😂

[@stephenbarningham330]

@@HughJohn-s1n YOUR WELCOME WATSON!

[@colaikman1761]

​@@michaelharrison3602I read both books, the second one was a difficult read, being more like a diary of day to day life. It really gave you a sense of life on the inside. A sense of freedom though, that book is a masterpiece, imho

[@user-os1kb1gg8l]

Thanks for uploading this.

[@TheRowlandstone73]

Larry no doubt giving his personal opinion on who killed JFK at 1:30!

[@pureloyalist9277]

Brilliant documentary , l can relate to what they are saying my first sentence was 1980 Glenochil then Barr then Saughtonthen frierton then lowmoss then Perth not big sentences but 2 of 18 month and 1 of 2 yes the rest were 6months to 9 months but glad to say been 23 years without jail , but thanks for sharing this video all the best 🫡👏👍

[@wind.del.change]

to all the people in the comments who have served time here. - stay out of trouble lad.

[@thomasreed49]

Most of us when people make us look silly we just shrug it off. Other people are unable to accept this violence starts. Please talk with you turn the other cheek.

[@wind.del.change]

you lags are costing us taxpayers a fortune with your childish attitude to life.@@thomasreed49

[@Irishmush]

Jimmy Boyle helped that block work properly for serious prisoners like himself at the time

[@mistofoles]

@2:24 - There's that bloody picture again ! - EVERYONE had a picture of that girl on their wall in the 1970s !

[@MrMeadfoot]

Yup, my mother had one as well, lol

[@allangow4746]

My Mum had one, we called her Tina !

[@Y-C999]

Us too, that and "the crying boy" they were in every house x

[@CasMackay]

I'm watching this from the Netherlands, what happened with this unit because it's ahead of it's time really. .. Very good documentary.

[@weescottishguy8950]

I was in Barlinnie 10 years ago and there was a "Lifer's house", not sure if it's same area of the jail this is filmed though with the different view i had. When we went for rec you could see the curtains and vases at the windows without bars. Looked like a regular house...surreal.

[@neilmclaughlin2347]

I’ve been at a children’s birthday party with Jimmy Boyle. Not sure what company he was like, I was one of the kids at the time.

[@alexcore697]

This is what happened after a sense of freedom

[@artemiszeus9735]

They all have their telly voices on.

[@niallkennedy23]

you are sent to prison as a punishment. Restriction of liberty is the punishment. This should be the sum of it. To brutalise people alongside restricting their liberty will achieve a net negative result. This is demonstrable throughout the British prison estate. Scandinavian prisons have recidivism rates 50% lower than the U.K.

[@kevphillips02]

It is good Jimmy Boyle turned his life around and is still living a long productive life in France. People do change if given the chance to reform.

[@Jammo1978]

Anyone get onto Jimmy Boyle's slip up😂😂😂"who's gonny open hem up who's gonny keep hem in ferr knife" 😂😂😂

[@josephpatrickdocherty6906]

Thanks for all these uploads mate 😊

[@oryctolaguscuniculus]

Some more information on the Special Unit prisoners featured in the documentary, for those who are interested: J.C./James Connor Smith - sentenced to life at Aberdeen High Court in January 1965, aged 22, for stabbing James Millsom to death the previous year in a "motiveless" attack while drunk. Rab Wallace - sentenced to life in 1961, aged 16, for stabbing 17 year old William Davies to death in Paisley on Christmas Eve the previous year. He claimed self-defence, saying that Davies had tried to strangle him after an argument over a burst football (!). Ian Breckenridge - sentenced to life at Edinburgh High Court in 1967, aged 27, for strangling Helen Carson to death in what he claimed was a failed suicide pact. He immediately handed himself in to police after the murder. He was the only prisoner who returned to jail after leaving the Special Unit: in 1982 he was jailed in London for attempted rape. Larry Winters - sentenced to life aged 21 for shooting dead barman Paddy O'Keefe in the White Horse pub in Soho, London in June 1964, while AWOL from the British Army. He was serving as a paratrooper at the time. His prison psychiatric assessment measured his IQ as 164 (which puts him in the top 0.0001% of the population). Mostly wrote poetry and prose while in the unit, some of which was posthumously published as "The Silent Scream". Was on massive doses of barbiturates prescribed by prison authorities and accidentally overdosed on Tuinal in 1977, aged 34. A biopic of his life was made in 1990 starring Iain Glen, who is probably best known as cock-blocked travelling knight Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones. It's really good, you should watch it (the biopic, not Game of Thrones). Jimmy Boyle - you can Google him.

[@lesleyann1473]

Sense of freedom. You'll see fck all without yer eyes

[@TheRowlandstone73]

Cheers for that. I was scrolling through the comments specifically in the hope of finding out what became of Larry. I can't help but wonder, was the overdose *really* accidental..?

[@oryctolaguscuniculus]

@@TheRowlandstone73 He had attempted suicide a few years previously, but an accident was the view of the FAI and his family. For one, there were still numerous unconsumed pills in the packet. Second, Larry had largely come off his prescribed barbiturates, so his tolerance was much lower than usual. When he was in Porterfield he was getting in excess of 20 Seconal a day. That is an insane dose. It was only about four pills which killed him. Barbiturates are absolutely deadly. He was doing a truckload of other drugs around this time though - heroin, cocaine, diconal, all injected.

[@colaikman1761]

​@@lesleyann1473" yer face is noted"... I thought that was one of the most sinister lines in the film. Just the way he said it, not the words themselves, they were so menacing.

[@greigallan5845]

The Special Unit was definitely beneficial for Jimmy Boyle. The experiment should have been extended to all prisons in the UK. Not just 5 or 6 prisoners in each unit but something like 30. Treat people with dignity and encouragement for a change and it's amazing what they can be capable of.

[@realmccoy69]

Larry winters died from drug I’d in the unit , brought in from days outside the unit .

[@DavidAugustine-lc4cj]

Read a "A Sense of Freedom" by Danny Boyle (?), it's about his insane journey of violence fighting screws in prison and his eventually being placed on THIS Special Unit! The brutality and violence in the Scottish prison system at this time was insane! The book is an incredible read! So well written by a prisoner who had been through hell and back! I'm surprised Danny Boyle wasn't in this video! It was about his time!? 😮

[@phillipwallace7211]

It's human nature to feel empathy for our fellow man. However the devastation that the murder of a loved one causes on a family is immeasurable. The dead will never be able to have a bath or wear a uniform that is ill fitting or eat poor quality food.

[@AlisonWarburton-qy8pl]

Great documentary

[@The_Engineer93]

I was in here a couple years ago,screws are Willy watchers.

[@weescottishguy8950]

Still got those peep-holes looking in the lavvies? 🙈

[@kennyb5870]

Larry winters film ,silent scream ..,good watch .

[@flohercus9756]

I've hadn't heard of Larry winters. Hopefully, find his film on KZbin. Liked a sense of freedom 👌🏻 who's the bloke Ian? I Don't know the bald guy either

[@Davidnumber23]

should do an up to date follow up

[@sparkeydmh]

They all killed each other in the special unit the day after the filming

[@Davidnumber23]

@@sparkeydmh nah only one killed himself the folowing year.

[@tech9auto223]

Is it Larry winters he was seemingly fearsome I've read a lot about all these guys I don't know why but I find them a lot more interesting than today's prisoners things back then were ruthless and it took a brave man to fight against the system

[@michaelpalmer8756]

Fabulous you can turn your life around Mick 😎 now living in Spain 🇧🇴

[@Dramapalmer]

I was being born when this was happening 😮

[@cathycooper5606]

Jimmy Boyle comes across really well in this Watching this has made me wonder about the prisons and reform , not for everyone though

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

The Bar L in 1976... tough place... very tough

[@impv1se]

so they handled the killers with kid gloves is what im getting from the first 10 min of this

[@wboyle9721]

These guys were battered assaulted before the unit came into use it was probally brutal

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

The BSU.. Barlinnie Special Unit ran for 21 years until it was closed after losing the confidence of the Prison Service leadership and the public.

[@johhnmcaulay-u9b]

Larry did the damage but Boyle got the credit for it R.I.P.

[@johhnmcaulay-u9b]

and he is speaking about JFK at the start here NOT the unit.Older cons told me about this...

[@MauriceCox-x2z]

I can hear Frazier From Dad's Army, Saying "Were Doomed" 😅

[@AlbyBach1]

The youth of today would attempt to mock their accent as "glasgow uni" not knowing how hard these men actually were

[@lightofgoku]

Ma dad was in bar l about this time, Andy heron from Paisley

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

You can see by their strides thats things could flare up ..

[@SD-ti5jc]

A Sense Of Freedom Jimmy Boyle’s book far better than the movie ..the violence he dished out and received was on a different level ..because of the Barlinnie special unit he rehabilitated and became very successful..Jimmy Boyle quote ..” treat a man like an animal and he’ll behave like an animal”..taking a person’s liberty and freedom away in a prison is punishment enough in the vast majority of cases ..treating a person like a dog achieves nothing accept hateful violence

[@DeepBlue1872]

The man loves his budgies! 😂

[@pisswizard]

He’s clearly autistic. Suppose they didn’t have a diagnosis for that back then.

[@thee49-d3m]

We must never hope in anything. Hope is a terrible thing, invented by the parties to keep a members happy

[@PeteRed-ig3fp]

I cant believe Jimmy page was once called Larry before Led Zeppelin.🏴‍☠️

[@laurenk6741]

he believes he is buying budgies for his cell, they are zebra finches, can tell by their chirps. 😁

[@bobosborne1573]

Jimmy Boyle what a legend

[@jamesnicholson2503]

Very hard place,very rough.

[@MisterGlasgow]

I must say … I have often heard Glaswegians who have known fellow Glaswegians that are considered psychopaths….that they all have a nice soft pleasant way of speaking…..

[@Eggnoodlesandketchup3]

Jimmy boyle was my pals probation officer

[@alexcore697]

The Legend Jimmy Boyle i have never seen him before

[@Bluebear78]

How is he a legend? Jimmy is ashamed of his past and he is far from a legend

[@Stanly-Stud]

​@@Bluebear78 He was a wee fud who was a money lender.

[@happyuk06]

He was a nasty piece of work, his victim was unrecognizable from the knife slashes.

[@ian436]

He was like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside than it was outside

[@alexcore697]

@@Bluebear78 All Gangsters are legends when they make movies about them

[@andysmith8890]

Does anyone know what happened to the 4 apart from Jimmy Boyle?

[@colinmacgregor3397]

Larry Winters died. There doesn’t seem to be any information on the others, apart from Jimmy Boyle. They’d be well into their 70s now, if still alive. I don’t think any re-offended.

[@kenneththompson8933]

Only Ian was returned to prison in 1982 he committed either a rape or attempted rape in London. The others left the unit & did not reoffend. JB is successful property developer & lives in France. Larry Winters psychiatric assessment placed his intelligence IQ in the TOP 000 1% of the population ( genius). He was a poet who had a book of his work published after his death: Silent Scream.. Also a film. His poetry is amazing.

[@nollem41]

I knew Ian he was friend along with Larry and Jimmy.

[@Highlands73]

A wiz waiting for Boyle making an appearance.

[@richwall6304]

Although I agree with the forward thinking policies, it seems a little unfair that the most violent and disruptive prisoners get the cushiest life by far!! 😳

[@seltaeb9691]

The victim's families must have been overjoyed seeing this prison sentencing idea.

[@Mark-fx1zj]

That’s jimmy Boyle out of . A sense of freedom brilliant film