Disgraced politician Tommy Sheridan has settled into his new home Castle Huntly open prison outside Dundee.
The convicted perjurer was transferred on Monday, five months into his three-year sentence.
Sheridan was moved from Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow and could soon be allowed home visits to wife Gail and daughter Gabrielle.
Friend Jim Monaghan said the transfer was “great” news.
He said, “It’s a big boost one step closer to being home with Gail and Gabrielle.”
Sheridan was jailed for three years in January after being found guilty of lying in his 2006 defamation case against a Sunday newspaper.
The move to an open jail is generally seen as the last stage before a release back into the community.
Sheridan will be able to wear his own clothes and not a prison uniform.
A Scottish Labour spokesman blasted news of Sheridan’s move.
He said, “People will be stunned. Nobody is above the law, so Tommy Sheridan should be treated like any other prisoner.”
Councillor Peter Mulheron, who lives in Longforgan, does not have the “slightest concern.”
He said, “I don’t think he is a danger to the public. He’s a silly bloke who messed up his life and that’s my opinion.”
He added, “A jail is a jail and Castle Huntly is a place to get him trained to go back into society.
“I don’t have the slightest concern about him being there.”
Prisoners on daily placement from Castle Huntly carry out projects from rebuilding woodland paths and clearing beauty spots to helping out at gala days.
The open prison has come under widespread criticism recently.
A number of high-profile offenders either escaping from, or failing to return after leave, has lead politicians to brand the establishment a “holiday camp.”