Drug use at Craiginches jail is widespread.

Andrew McLellan, the Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, highlighted the drug problem in his heavily critical report of the Aberdeen jail, which was published on Wednesday.

One of the major issues seems to be the low prison wall, which only stands at 16 feet. Staff at the jail have reported over 100 incidences of the perimeter wall being breached in the past year. People outside the prison have been caught throwing in drugs and other excluded items such as mobile phones. Socks stuffed with syringes are also hurled over the wire.

Stuart Campbell, Head of Operations at Craiginches Jail, said: "Anything that comes over the wall we hand over to Grampian Police. But at the end of the day, is it ever going to stop? I really couldn't say, I couldn't stand here with my hand on my heart and say it's going to stop."

Cell searches are part of daily life at Craiginches - but wardens aren't just hunting for an inmates stash. To stop the drugs trade they know they need to find the dealer's mobile phones.

Mr Campbell added: "Phones are a massive commodity in prisons. The going rate for a mobile phone in Aberdeen prison is somewhere in the region of between £250 £300 A lot of prisoners are still carrying on their drug business so they're using mobile phones to keep it going."

Three-quarters of Craiginches inmates are addicts. Health workers do their best to support the prisoners while they are inside. 

Marion Walker, Addictions Nurse Coordinator, said: "People will say they are glad to be here because they know they will get help. They say they have had no help outside and I think that's sad, that's really sad. Constantly, you hear prisoners saying they were fine when they were here, but when they got out there was no one to speak to so they turned back to drugs."