OFF THE WIRE
Melbourne CBD killer Christopher Wayne Hudson has been linked to an alleged drug ring operating inside maximum security Barwon Prison after four warders were arrested in early morning raids on Tuesday.
The Herald Sun says the Hells Angel bikie and another unnamed prisoner had formed close relationships with one of the guards and had been seen passing notes between cells and out of the prison.
Hudson is serving a minimum of 35 years in jail over the 2007 CBD shootings of father of three Brendan Keilar, who died, and Dutch backpacker Paul de Waard, as they tried to stop Hudson bashing his girlfriend.
The paper says the other prisoner, a contract killer, is serving 32 years for the murders of Dorothy and Ramon Abbey in 1987.
He was also charged with the murders of police informers Terence and Christine Hodson but they were dropped.
Four prison officers, including a 31 year-old woman, were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of trafficking illicit substances into the institution, which houses some of the state's most notorious and violent offenders.
Two have been charged with a number of drug and firearm offences.
The arrests come only three months after an Ombudsman's report exposed an unprofessional culture at the prison, including organised cricket matches between guards and inmates, guards falling asleep on the job, and others who passed along sexual, offensive and violent images within departmental emails.
Some prison staff had even been recruited to work there despite having no prior experience working in such an environment.
The report found the prison system also failed in its core duty to protect gangland killer Carl Williams, who was bashed to death by another inmate in 2010 - yet prison guards failed to notice for nearly half-an-hour.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/killer-bikie-link-to-prison-drug-ring-20120710-21udv.html