A WOMAN had a panic attack after spending an hour and a half in a dark prison visiting room.
The finance worker, 48, was locked in a tiny cubicle big enough to fit just two chairs at HMP Edinburgh.
Nicky’s bosses were forced to apologize when they forgot about her after being locked in a cubicle after a 45-minute encounter with her boyfriend.
A visitor described how she screamed and kicked the heavy door when the lights went out.
She said: “I had a panic attack – it was very scary.
“They took him away and said they would come back for me.
“Five minutes went by and I wondered what was taking them, and it kept getting longer and longer.
“I yelled and knocked on the door.
“It was cold and I was afraid that I would have to spend the night locked up, without water or a toilet.
“I have no idea how something like this could happen.”
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A Fife woman is trapped in a closed visiting room where inmates talk to loved ones in private cubicles separated by a partition.
She logged in upon her arrival at the prison and was forced to hand over her mobile phone before being ushered in for a 45-minute slot.
Her partner, 49, raised the alarm on his prison cell phone from his cell in Glenesque Hall when she did not answer the call.
“THIS PLACE IS DESTROYED”
He said: “I always call to make sure she is well and safely back to her car.
“When she did not pick up the phone, I asked one of the guards to check on her, but I was deceived.
“I tried again half an hour later and the same thing happened.
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“This place is a mess.”
The woman realized that she had fallen into a trap when she tried to leave the cabin at 20:30 yesterday.
She described how the lights began to go out before she was finally released around 10 p.m.
And she claims the worker apologized but “chuckled” and pointed out that her frantic kicking “left marks on the door” before she had to wait while staff tried to find keys to let her out through the front door.
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “We can confirm that someone was inadvertently detained after the visit. When the case was solved, she was released.
“The prison contacted her directly to apologize and make sure she was okay.”