If that information had been known, Mr MacAskill responded, Martin would not have been sent to Castle Huntly.

Mr MacAskill has now rapped the Scottish Prison Service over the knuckles for their decision to allow him access to open conditions, telling them it was “unacceptable” and there must be “no repeat”.

Professor Alec Spencer's review was commissioned after Martin absconded from Castle Huntly open prison on May 18. In the report he says long-term prisoners are eligible to access open conditions too early in their sentence and they should not be eligible for transfer to the open estate earlier than one year before their parole qualification date.

He also suggests long-term prisoners should be tagged when they move to open prisons.

MacAskill, who rejected calls for him to resign over the issue, said, “I am grateful to Professor Spencer for producing this wide ranging report in such a tight timescale.

“It looks at a number of issues around the open estate and, in particular, the decision to send Brian Martin to open conditions.

“It is clear Martin's previous absconding history was either overlooked or ignored when that decision was made. In all likelihood, if that information had been known, Martin would not have been transferred.

“In other words, the more robust measures I instigated after the Robert Foye case were not followed by Scottish Prison Service staff on this occasion.

“I have made it clear to the SPS this is not acceptable, and that such lapses must not be repeated.

“Prof Spencer's report supports our view that open prison is still necessary for the re-integration of serious offenders. However, it is vital the robust processes in place to ensure public safety are followed every time a prisoner is being considered for transfer.

“Those tighter procedures have already seen a large drop in the number of absconds from Open prisons — 16 in 2008/09, compared with 79 in 2006/07.

“Prof Spencer has made nine recommendations to ensure those robust processes are applied and in some cases tightened even more.

“The SPS is already implementing four of them. He’s also made a number of suggestions including the use of GPS tagging and simplification of parts of the decision-making process. We’ll consider recommendations and suggestions and respond in the autumn.”

In his report, Prof Spencer pointed out that no mention was made, nor apparently cognisance taken, of the police intelligence available. He said the information was available to security and residential staff but was not brought to the relevent panel’s attention at HMP Shotts.

Among the recommendations made by Prof Spencer are that:

— Prisoner record files are reviewed before transfer.

— The agreement for transfer to Open conditions must be approved and signed by the Prison Governor or Deputy Governor.

— A Police Liaison Officer attends the selection meeting and provides the Police intelligence input to decision-making.

— Research should be undertaken to determine the efficacy of open prison, its benefits and the most effective time for transfer of prisoners to open conditions, and home background reports should be sought.

— Open prisons be restricted for use only by long-term prisoners.

— The SPS should produce a “preparation for open prison” package which can be delivered to prisoners before transfer.

— GPS tagging should be considered for long-term prisoners in open conditions.

The Scottish Prison Service today accepted Prof Spencer’s report that new guidelines had not been followed and vowed to make improvements.

An SPS spokesman said, “Prof Spencer has identified that the rigorous processes put in place last year for the transfer of prisoners to the open estate were not followed in this instance by the SPS. We accept this and we are putting in place recommendations made by Prof Spencer to ensure improvements are made to the process.”

Martin (51), once described as “the most dangerous man in Britain”, went on the run from Castle Huntly for seven days last month, before handing himself in at Kinross Police Station. He later appeared at Perth Sheriff Court where he pleaded guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice by absconding from the open prison on May 18.

Sheriff Michael Stewart imposed a four-month prison sentence, to run consecutively with a term he was already serving — he’d been sentenced to 10 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh in May 2006 for a firearms offence.

Martin, originally from Ballingry and with a criminal record stretching back over many years, had been transferred to Castle Huntly from Shotts Prison in North Lanarkshire in April.