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Scum
Three young men arrive at a borstal by prison van: Carlin, who has taken the blame for his brother's theft of scrap metal; Angel for stealing a car; and Davis for escaping from an open institution. Each is allocated a room; Angel and Davis get single rooms, while Carlin is sent to a dormitory.
Carlin, having been transferred for assaulting a warden, wants to keep a low profile. He meets and befriends Archer, an eccentric and intellectual inmate serving two years for workplace fraud who is intent upon peacefully inconveniencing the staff as much as possible through nonviolent resistance. Archer tells Carlin how his reputation is already known: Banks, the current "Daddy" (the inmate who controls the wing), is seeking Carlin for a fight to maintain his dominance over the wing. Banks's status appears to have been achieved by petty bullying and intimidation with the aid of his henchmen Richards and Eckersley and the passive assent of the staff.
Carlin struggles to settle into the dormitory and, after witnessing the timid and vulnerable Davis hazed and attacked by Banks, is himself viciously beaten and headbutted by Banks in an unprovoked attack. Angel is brutally beaten up by Banks and Richards in his room. Davis is framed for theft of a radio by Eckersley and placed on report. Soon sentenced to arrest, the three newcomers find themselves in solitary confinement. Realising there is no hope of being allowed to serve his term as a borstal trainee in peace, Carlin exacts revenge and establishes dominance. Walking through the association (rec) room, he picks up two snooker balls and puts them in a sock. Using this improvised cosh on Richards, Carlin orders Eckersley to desist from informing, then goes to find Banks. Surprising him in a washroom he gives Banks a severe beating and then tells him who the "Daddy" of the wing now is: one who will 'kill him' if Banks ever interferes with his wellbeing. This ambush required cooperation and information from other inmates, showing how Carlin has soon won both respect and amity.
Several days later, Carlin is challenged by an adjacent wing's Daddy whom he viciously beats but allows to continue to manage his wing under Carlin's overall control. Things improve for the inmates under Carlin, with victimisation of younger, weaker prisoners prevented, along with racially motivated violence. He keeps to the same seat at table in the dining hall, to where information and requests are directed, and with his associates such as Archer, Betts, Rhodes and Meakin – a contrast to Banks and his bullies. Carlin's status is recognised by the warders: he requests and gets a single cell in return for agreeing to be a responsible "natural leader" to the housemaster Mr Goodyear.
Meanwhile, Meakin's friend Toyne learns through a letter from his in-laws that his wife has died. He becomes severely depressed, his despair being noticed by the warders, who scold him for "moping". Toyne slashes the arteries in his arms. He is transferred to an adult prison where, Meakin is informed by Dougan that he died after a second suicide attempt. Meakin is outraged by this and berates the staff for their negligence before storming out of the meeting. Dougan and Meakin are sent to solitary confinement whilst Carlin is instructed by Mr. Goodyear to keep the inmates under control, but while working alone in a greenhouse, Davis is gang-raped by three opportunistic youths who had requested a smoking break. Their supervising warder Sands sees what happens but reacts with a grin and then ignores the dishevelled state of the semi-undressed trio as they return. That night, a distraught Davis kills himself with a razor blade. While bleeding to death, he presses the button in his cell for help, but is ignored by warden Greaves.
Davis's suicide is the last straw for the Borstal inmates. In the dining hall, having collected their food, the inmates sit silently, refusing to eat. Carlin initiates a full-scale riot in the dinner hall. Carlin, Archer and Meakin are later shown being dragged, bleeding and unconscious, into solitary confinement after having been beaten by the wardens. The Borstal's Governor later informs them the damage to the dinner hall will be repaid through lost earnings. The Governor then declares a minute's silent prayer for Davis.