Danish prison scandal reads like a novel

A high-ranking prison guard, hardcore convicts, a biker gang and prostitutes were just some of the elements involved in Denmark’s latest prison scandal. Copenhagen’s Vestre Faengel prison was the site of the drama, where an experienced guard has been accused of accepting bribes from biker inmates in return for letting them have unfettered access to mobile phones in their cells.

At the centre of the storm is a 51-year-old seasoned guard who has been in charge of the wing housing the prison’s most dangerous convicts for more than a decade. The Copenhagen Post reports the man was brought before a Copenhagen court to face charges of accepting prostitutes and other bribes in exchange for letting hardened gang inmates keep personal mobile phones in their cells.

The wing that the guard supervised held members of the Bandidos biker gang. These biker-criminals are said to have paid the guard more than 20,000 kroner and provided him with regular trysts with prostitutes as payoff over at least a 6-month period.

A tip off from police in North Jutland helped the Copenhagen police open an investigation that ran for weeks and ended in the arrest of the prison guard. He has denied all charges, but a full search of the cellblock turned up mobile phones and lots of other contraband.

Peter Vesterheden, the head of Copenhagen’s prison service, told the B.T. newspaper he was deeply shocked by the incident because the guard was very experienced and had been working for his department for many years.