Prison guard jailed for supplying inmates with drugs and phones

A PRISON officer who smuggled drugs and mobile phones into his jail is to spend 40 months behind bars.

John Wallace, of Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shire, was paid £1,800 to deliver the contraband over a five-month period to help pay off family debts.

He placed the items into socks and cardboard boxes and threw them over the wall at Porterfield Prison, in Inverness. He then picked them up on the other side when he was on duty

Wallace, 36, had admitted the offences, which took place between October 2015 and the following March, last month at Inverness Sheriff Court. He also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin in the prison and elsewhere, with others.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood told him yesterday: ‘This was a gross breach of trust and both those in prison and your employers should have been able to rely on your integrity.

‘But I will take into account the difficulties you will face in prison. I consider five years as appropriate, but I will reduce this by a third to one of three years and four months to take into account your early plea.’ The sentence was backdated to February 10.

Wallace’s solicitor Urfan Dar said his client was now spending 23 hours a day in virtual solitary confinement because of his former job. He said there were only five deliveries, for which he was paid a total of £1,800.

He added: ‘The method of delivery was pretty rudimentary. Throwing a sock over the wall gives an indication of how reckless it was.’

When interviewed by police, Wallace told officers: ‘I was desperate. I didn’t know what else to do and am guilty. I am now going to lose everything and I know that.’

Police Scotland yesterday said Wallace was caught following an operation to target those involved in the supply of controlled drugs into the prison.