Published: Tuesday, 22nd July, 2008 12:00
Prison officer 'bribed by con'
By Brian Hossack
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SMUGGLING CLAIMS: Ian Fisher, left, denies accepting a bribe from prisoners.
A SENIOR prison officer was caught taking a bribe to smuggle contraband into Greenock jail as part of a massive surveillance operation by police, a court heard yesterday.
Ian Fisher, 49, was in the dock at the sheriff court yesterday where he denied acting corruptly by accepting a £200 payment from a prisoner to bring in a mobile phone and charger for him to use.
Detective Douglas Colville, 42, was part of a team of officers working for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, who were charged with watching Greenock man Fisher, line manager of the Ailsa Hall wing within the prison, as part of Operation Scuba.
He told the court his team had watched Fisher meet a man outside shops close to the jail in Inverkip Road where he received a parcel and dropped it into a plastic bag he was carrying just before 1pm on 18 February last year.
The court heard claims the package contained a mobile phone and £200 in £20 notes after inmate Stewart Johnstone, 39, alleged he had struck a deal with Fisher for the phone to be brought in for his own use.
Under questioning from depute fiscal Anthony Quigley, Mr Johnstone explained how mobile telephones were highly sought-after by prisoners due to the expense of calling relatives from the payphones provided by the authorities.
He said: “I knew Mr Fisher quite well through my duties within the Ailsa Hall and I spoke to him about getting a mobile to use.”
Mr Quigley asked: “Did you reach an agreement with him about having one brought in?”
Mr Johnstone replied: “Yes. It was suggested to me that if I could get a certain amount of money together, £200, and arrange for my mobile to be handed to an individual then a transaction would take place for it to be brought in.”
The court was told by the prisoner how Mr Fisher allowed him to make a call from his own office to arrange the deal.
He added: “I made a call to my girlfriend and arranged for her to get the cash and phone together and then give it to a friend.
“I then called my friend’s daughter and told her what was to happen.”
This friend was Drew Bailey, 48, who had been planning to come to visit Mr Johnstone in Greenock Prison later that day.
His daughter collected the package from Mr Johnstone’s partner and gave it to him along with instructions of where the handover would take place.
Mr Bailey described how he waited outside a row of shops in Inverkip Road where he was approached by a man who asked: “Do you have anything for me?” before being offered a carrier bag to drop the cash and phone into.
When asked by the fiscal if the man was in court, Mr Bailey answered ‘yes’, before pointing to Mr Fisher, of Lewis Road, Greenock.
The trial before a jury and Sheriff Vincent Canavan continues.
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