Scottish prisons have clamped down after a wave of inmates claimed to be Jewish in order to receive kosher food – thought to be better quality than standard provisions.
Two years ago, inspectors demanded an urgent investigation into skyrocketing food budgets – with more than 100 offenders on a strictly-kosher diet at HMP Edinburgh alone.
In 2016, only nine inmates across Scotland identified as Jewish.
The ploy to receive kosher meals – which cost the service roughly twice as much as regular food – is thought to have been inspired by a storyline in prison drama Orange is the New Black.
According to the Daily Mail, HMP Edinburgh spent almost £1 million on kosher food in 2017.
A prison source told the Times: “The number of Jewish prisoners is negligible — I think we had two in 2014. Ever since one guy converted to Judaism we’ve seen a huge rise in the number claiming to be Jewish as they saw the meals were better.”
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said new guidelines have been put in place relating to the process of declaring a religious conversion, resulting in a fall in the number of people receiving kosher meals of approximately 75 per cent.
The changes are thought to have made the process more bureaucratic and rigorous.
Tom Fox, of the SPS, said: “We had a number of people who claimed to be Jewish and [in need of] need kosher meals and in all probability weren’t.
“There were new guidelines put out with regards to people applying for a kosher diet and that has tightened the system up and reduced the number. Basically, the system before was that people said they were Jewish so required a kosher diet, and in some places they received it.
“If someone requires a kosher diet they will get it but when we tightened up the requirements and made it slightly more bureaucratic, people suddenly decided they weren’t.”
In 2017, it was reported that the notorious killer Imran Shahid, who was one of four men found guilty of the racist murder of teenager Kriss Donald, had been claiming kosher meals after a supposed conversion.
Officers told the Daily Record that Shahid did nothing to practise the Jewish faith and was “taking the mickey”.
