Source: Sunday Times (UK) Contact: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 Author: Marcello Mega PRISON WORKER 'HANDED OUT DRUGS TO INMATES' A MEMBER of staff at top security Shotts prison has been suspended amid allegations that he administered drugs, including the heroin substitute methadone, from the jail's pharmacy to prisoners without authority. Sources at the jail have claimed they understand that "thousands of pounds worth of drugs" cannot be properly accounted for and that senior staff were warned about the suspended man's alleged conduct by his colleagues six months before action was taken. Bill McKinlay, the governor of Shotts, denied both claims. One prison officer said: "Staff saw this man using drugs from the pharmacy himself and handing them out to selected prisoners. Senior managers were told of the need for greater supervision. Staff wanted to see a pharmacist employed to regulate drug use by dependent prisoners, but no action was taken. "About four weeks ago, a security supervisor saw the guy allowing a prisoner to swig a large quantity of methadone from a bottle in the pharmacy. This was reported and action was finally taken." McKinlay confirmed that a member of staff had been suspended and that allegations against him were still being investigated. He said the case could be handled internally. He did not intend to tell the police. He said he personally took responsibility for the monthly audits on the prison's drug stocks. "The audits have not shown anything significant missing," McKinlay said. A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said a member of staff had been suspended for administering drugs to a prisoner and that there was a discrepancy in the jail's drug supplies, but she believed it had been blown out of proportion by prison staff. The suspended man was due at the prison for an appeal hearing last week but was involved in a minor car accident. The hearing is to be rescheduled. The suspended man's boss, who prison staff claim was made aware of serious allegations some time ago, has been on sick leave for a week. Shotts, like most prisons, has significant problems with drug use and staff believe they are more acute than any other Scottish prison. Staff sources claimed earlier this year that in two halls drug abuse was common among about 85% of prisoners. They also claimed that the results of the random mandatory tests conducted in prisons were being manipulated to suggest that advances were being made in tackling the problem, and that Shotts staff had been warned to turn a blind eye to drug dealing for fear of provoking a riot. Shotts, once hailed as Scotland's flagship prison, has been at the centre of a number of controversies in the past year with its staff among the most disgruntled in the SPS. As well as their concerns about high levels of drug abuse, prison officers have been angered by the fact that Robert Mone, an A category prisoner and a notorious killer, has been given a trustee's job allowing him greater freedom than most prisoners who were considered to be less dangerous. - --- Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)