Prison death of drug gang killer who punted heroin for kingpin to be probed
Ronald Harrison was found dead at HMP Addiewell in West Lothian.
The death of a killer prisoner who was part of a £1 million drug gang is set to be probed by a sheriff.
Ronald Harrison was found dead in his prison cell at HMP Addiewell in West Lothian on April 10, 2022. The 58-year-old was jailed in 2015 for his role in a prison drugs ring that was being masterminded behind bars by kingpin Stephen Nisbet.
Harrison was on licence from a prison sentence for culpable homicide when he was caught with 1kg of heroin at his home in Beith, Ayrshire. He was sentenced to five years. He was on remand in Addiewell while awaiting trial for an attempted murder charge at the time of his passing.
A prison source told the Record at the time: “Harrison was under the influence of something the day before he died."
A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the circumstances surrounding Ronald's death is now set to be carried out, with a preliminary hearing to take place on December 5.
The FAI will then be held from April 27, 2026 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Harrison was part of a gang led by murderer Nisbet and four other members including Nisbet’s older brother James.
The seven men were handed sentences totalling 50 years following their trial in October 2015. Nisbet used a stash of illicit mobile phones to arrange heroin, cocaine and amphetamine deals across Scotland under the noses of staff at Edinburgh prison, the High Court in Glasgow was told.
Police who smashed the gang recovered drugs worth more than £1.1million. Nisbet’s 12-year sentence only started in January 2021 when the minimum term for his life sentence was up.
Older brother James, 45, who helped him set up a recycling firm near their home in Shotts, Lanarkshire, as a front for their drugs deals, was given ten years.
Trial judge Lord Armstrong told Harrison: “You were supplying and storing a vast amount of heroin for others. The heroin in your possession had a maximum value of £100,000.”
The convictions resulted from a Police Scotland covert operation, Operation Lapstone, led by the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit (OOCTU).
Mr Harrison was in legal custody and in the care of the state at the time of his passing. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is therefore obliged to investigate such deaths, and an FAI is mandatory.
The purpose of a FAI includes determining the cause of death; the circumstances in which the death occurred; and to establish what steps, if any, could have been taken to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.
Unlike criminal proceedings, FAIs are used to establish facts rather than to apportion blame. This inquiry will explore the circumstances of Mr Harrison’s death, with particular focus on the prison’s locking and unlocking policy (or lack thereof) and its implementation by prison officers on April 9 2022.
It will also consider whether prison officers were sufficiently trained to recognise and respond to prisoners showing signs of substance intoxication.
Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on deaths investigations for COPFS, said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Ronald Harrison occurred whilst he was in legal custody and as such a Fatal Accident Inquiry is mandatory.
“The lodging of the First Notice enables FAI proceedings to commence under the direction of the Sheriff.”