PRISON OFFICER MUM SMUGGLED COKE FOR KILLER

Cash, phones and drugs found in home after illicit use surged at jail

- DAVID MEIKLE

A PRISON officer smuggled cocaine and other drugs into a maximum security jail after befriending a killer.

Heather McKenzie, 31, bonded with con Zak Malavin while working as an operations officer at HMP Shotts, which houses some of Scotland's most notorious criminals.

Prison officials and police launched a probe following a surge in drugs being found in the jail.

Intelligence inside led to McKenzie being suspected of bringing drugs and phones into the prison.

Malavin, caged for the slaying of a man in a park, had his cell searched in May 2020 which led to an iPhone, cocaine and a sleeping pill being found. A search following month the found two knotted bags with 5.7g of cocaine while data on the iPhone revealed texts and calls to McKenzie.