A sheriff has ruled there was nothing prison staff could have done to prevent an inmate dying from an overdose.
Sheriff Neil Bowie said the task of keeping drugs out of jail was near-impossible after probing the cocaine -induced death of murderer Deyan Nikolov.
Nikolov, 33, was found slumped in his cell at Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire in June 2018.
He died of cocaine toxicity and coronary artery atheroma, the development of fatty material which causes heart attacks.
A stash of cocaine and tablets containing controlled drugs tramadol and codeine were found beside his body, held in five bags, a tub and a pill box.
There was also the casing of a pen, believed to have been used to snort the powder.
But after a Fatal Accident Inquiry, Sheriff Bowie said there were no precautions which the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) could have taken which might have prevented the Bulgarian’s death.
Speaking of the drugs issue in jails, he said: “As the prison shuts down one avenue of entry, another would tend to appear.”
Nikolov was jailed for life – with a minimum of 18 years but raised to 23 on appeal – in 2012. He arranged for hitman Tencho Andonov to kill Toby Siddique, from Fife, over a business rivalry.
Sheriff Bowie described the “high levels of ingenuity and sophistication” used to smuggle drugs into prisons, including professional stitching inside clothing and flying drones into jails.
He said a search of the dead man’s cell six days earlier proved negative for anything illicit.
The SPS said: “It is very challenging to address the issue of contraband being introduced into prisons. However, we have invested heavily in technology and work closely with partner groups to prevent this.”
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