LONDON. The head of Britain's domestic spy service has defended his agency's work amid claims it tried to cover up its involvement in torture.

A SECOND NSW prison inmate has been charged over an alleged drug-trafficking syndicate which notorious prisoner Bassam Hamzy is accused of co-ordinating.

FORMER property developer Steve Spaliviero allegedly pulled a fellow prison inmate aside in April and asked whether he could contact a hitman to kill two witnesses in his pending trial.

Connie Levett meets a former Villawood inmate facing on uncertain future.

HAVING spent two years behind bars at Maitland Gaol, one would think former inmate Dave McGarry could not get far enough away from the place.