Guard sentenced for smuggling drugs into Addiewell jail
A custody officer who was caught smuggling heroin into a private prison in Edinburgh has been jailed.
Kevin Coulter, 29, who also worked as a part-time firefighter, admitted taking the drugs into HMP Addiewell in West Lothian in July last year.
The father-of-two had claimed he was smuggling the drug because his family was being threatened.
However, Judge Lord Woolman jailed him for three years and four months at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The court heard that Coulter was caught with four wraps of heroin at 24% purity, weighing a total of 107g and valued at up to £32,000.
During a police interview on 26 July 2010 he admitted he had delivered the drug to an inmate four days earlier.
Lord Woolman said: "You told the police that you had only begun supplying drugs after a prisoner made threats against your family.
"However, you also stated that you had received money from the person who supplied you and £750 cash was found in the glove box of your car.
"The commission of this offence involved the breach of an important position of trust.
"You did the very thing that you were being employed to detect and prevent."