Rogue wardens 'fuelling prison drug epidemic'

SOME of Scotland's leading experts on drug abuse in prisons have warned that lethal narcotics are being smuggled into the country's jails by corrupt prison officers.

Professor Neil McKeganey director of Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse Research warns today of the "very strong likelihood" that the thousands of prisoners using heroin and cannabis in prison are being supplied by officers.

His claim is being supported by a former senior prison doctor who says he was offered a bribe by an inmate, and a retired Chief Inspector of Prisons who agrees that the practice was taking place.

One recent survey found that 50% of those with a drug problem had admitted to taking drugs while in jail.

McKeganey is now warning that jails face becoming "temporary warehouses for our addict population".

A leaked report from England's prison service anti-corruption unit recently found that as many as 1,000 corrupt officers were working in jails south of the Border.

No such reports have been released in Scotland, but McKeganey said the situation was likely to be the same.

He declared: "We would be naive not to recognise the potential for similar corruption to occur within our own prison system and the very strong likelihood that it is already occurring. Illegal drug use has an unparalleled ability to corrode and corrupt because of the enormous sums of money involved and the capacity to bribe and intimidate that stand in its way."

Last night, Clive Fairweather, the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, backed McKeganey's claims and warned that officers may also be being blackmailed to bring in drugs.

He said: "There are huge pressures that can come on a prison officer. If a prisoner knows where they live, then massive pressure can be exerted. As we have seen in other sectors, everyone has a price."

Fairweather said it was now time for all staff to be searched before coming into prison.

A former prison doctor last night said the practice was endemic in jails.

Dr Alan Mitchell, the ex-head of medical practice at Perth prison, said that when he had been in the service, one prisoner had offered to deal with a family problem he had been going through, in return for his services.

"That is the way they work. The problem is that once people have crossed the line it is difficult for them to cross back over," he said.

"One approach to solve this would be an amnesty for officers to openly declare where they have been bribed."

And one former senior prison insider said: "Some officers have been bringing stuff in for years. They are in a position of trust and, as such, do not generally get searched on a day-to-day basis."

He added: "This means if they want to bring stuff in, whatever that may be, they are free to do so. This is how a lot of mobile phones find their way into prison today. On most of the occasions the officers doing this are being paid by the prisoners to bring the drugs in but there have been occasions, albeit down south, where they have been behind the distribution of the drugs in prison."

Concerns about corruption in the prison service emerged last year after a leaked report by the Metropolitan Police suggested that one in 20 officers were taking part in smuggling deals.

The report also suggested that when cases of corruption had been raised they had been buried, allowing the practice to continue.

The problem is thought to be exacerbated by the rewards on offer. Prison officers start on salaries of just £17,400 a year, but are said to be able to earn up to £35,000 a year by smuggling drugs.

Fairweather added that the problem may be worse in privately run jails where salaries were lower.

"People are paid a lower wage so there is more of a temptation," he said. Jim Dowson of the Scottish Prison Officer Association added: "Unfortunately, there have been cases where prison officers have been caught but they are in the vast, vast minority.

"There are vast sums of money to be made and with prison officers having slipped way down the pay league in recent years, then there is all the more temptation to do this."

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: "Prison officers are highly professional people doing a very tough and demanding job. They are in the frontline of the Scottish Prison Service's rigorous approach to keeping drugs out of prison, and work very effectively with the police and other agencies in tackling those who seek to peddle drugs in our prisons."

He added: "There will always be a minority of individuals who will succumb to the pressures and temptations that drugs bring to individuals in society and when that is found to be the case, the SPS will take the strongest action possible to ensure that these individuals face the full force of the law."