Trainee prison staff who were sacked over a lockdown gathering claim they have been unfairly treated after a jail boss kept his job despite a similar breach.
Deputy governor Forbes McKillop watched the Betfred Cup Final last month at the Perth home of pal Brian Wallace, also a senior manager, and at least two others.
But McKillop is back at work with the Scottish Prison Service after self-isolating for 10 days.
Last July, four trainee prison officers were sacked after meeting in a garden.
Photos show Kenny Weldon, Dave Warner and Gordon Finnigan at Kenny’s home in Airdrie in April last year.
A fourth trainee was also sacked.
The shots of McKillop and Wallace were taken indoors, with two other men in close proximity.
The trainees say they were in a social bubble together due to sharing classrooms and car trips.
Kenny, 26, said: “We admitted it right away. We just didn’t see that we had done anything wrong at the time and we were shocked to get sacked.
“Even in the photos you can see we are socially distancing and drinking milk – not booze. We were doing coursework and exercising, the same as we would have done at college.
“This was not a case of some daft ladies getting together for a lockdown party.
“But that’s what the bosses were doing – all they had was contempt for the law.”
The group also say an activity night with senior staff took place a fortnight before their gathering, without social distancing.
They claim the SPS was given the photos after a row between their group and other probationers.
Dad-of-five Gordon, 39, from East Kilbride, said: “We weren’t entirely sure of what the guidelines were at the time and there were no clearly established policies relayed to us from the SPS.
“But we now see that senior managers seem to be OK to break well established laws.”
At the time of the cup final, in which St Johnstone beat Livingston 1-0, McKillop was deputy governor at Glenochil. Wallace is a line manager at Cornton Vale in Stirling.
SNP MSP Alex Neil said: “There appears to have been one rule for senior managers and another for rank-and-file officers.”
A SPS spokesman said he was unable to discuss disciplinary matters relating to individual staff members.
It is understood disciplinary procedures against McKillop and Wallace are ongoing but neither has been suspended.
