Sammy 'The Bear' Ralston, the notorious ringleader of a six-day siege at Peterhead Prison in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in September 1987, once held jail guards hostage in a terrifying ordeal. Ralston, 62, was serving a six-year sentence for armed robbery when the riot erupted.
The unrest began when inmate Malcolm 'Malkie' Leggat stabbed a prison officer and threw hot fat over him after being placed on a minor report. Ralston then joined the uprising alongside other high-security inmates, who took over the prison's D Wing roof space, creating barricades and booby traps while holding guards Jackie Stuart and Bill Florence hostage.
Siege and brutality
During the takeover, prisoners made balaclavas out of bandages, smashed windows, started fires, and brandished makeshift weapons. Guard Bill, who had been stabbed and burnt, was released after a day, but Jackie, then 56, was kept. Most prisoners surrendered quickly, but Ralston and three others held out, parading Jackie along the roof like a dog on a chain after stripping and beating him.
Jackie was made to lie on the floor while being beaten with table legs, then moved to an attic area. Huge banners made from bed sheets were displayed on the roof as Scotland watched the siege. Ralston later said: "It might sound stupid but we treated him well. We let him send a letter to his wife – something we weren't allowed to do. I told him things had to change in the prison system as men were going to end up dead."
SAS intervention
Jackie was stabbed three times, and his pockets were filled with lighter fluid as prisoners threatened to set him alight. Ralston later admitted the prisoners were scared and couldn't back down. Five jail staff were taken hostage, while others barricaded themselves into free cells. Prisoners draped banners reading, 'Sammy Ralston was tortured'.
Ralston said: "We got radios from the guards so prison negotiators were able to communicate with us. They kept telling us we should come down because we were only making things worse for ourselves. But that made us scared, so we waited it out."
Eventually, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent in the SAS. The elite unit, famous for ending the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980, had never been deployed in mainland Britain to solve a civilian issue. Within three minutes, the rebels were overcome by stun grenades and CS gas, and Jackie was freed. Ralston was given an extra seven years and was released from prison in 2010.
Previous and later offences
Just eight months before the Peterhead protest, Ralston was involved in a similar riot at HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, when inmates staged a rooftop protest sparked by claims of brutality against Ralston. Five jail staff were taken hostage, and prisoners took to the roof with banners reading, 'Sammy Ralston was tortured'. After five days, the siege ended. Nine men stood trial for their part in the Barlinnie riot, and three were sentenced to a total of 22 years.
Over the decades, Ralston accumulated further convictions, including a 12-year sentence in 1997 for an armed shop robbery and an eight-year prison sentence handed down in August 2024 for the attempted murder of a neighbour in Glasgow's Shettleston area.
