Prisoners made cold calls to elderly from jail, says ex-inmate
‘ WE CONTACTED VULNERABLE’
AN ex HMP Berywn prisoner claim inmates “cold-called” the elderly and vulnerable from a call-centre at the superjail.
Dylan Jones from Bangor made the claims after a report revealed prisoners claimed they were being victimised for using Welsh.
Mr Jones claimed the call centre’s practices were “unethical” and made him feel uneasy.
But the Prison Service has denied this and said it provided offenders with skills to help gain employment on release.
Mr Jones also claims he was discriminated against for speaking Welsh in the prison - a claim also denied by the service.
He told Daily Post the call centre was set up in an empty wing of the jail.
He worked there in February 2019, when he was serving time for setting a car on fire.
The 48-year-old claims prisoners were paid less than £2 for working a shift lasting around five hours.
He claimed they “cold called” members of the public to conduct “a survey” about what services people did or did not have.
Mr Jones claims they were paid a 5p bonus for each successful survey, with the information sent to other companies, so they could call independently and sell products.
But Mr Jones says he felt uncomfortable and believed it was “unethical”.
“It was a call centre. It was on an empty wing at the prison.
“Sometimes we would call people who were old or vulnerable and they would talk to us for ages, because they had not spoken to anyone for a long time.
“We would be asking them questions like ‘Do you have Sky?’, ‘Do you buy the Daily Mail?’, ‘Do you have funeral insurance?
“I felt uncomfortable about it about the time and think it is very unethical to employ prisoners to do that.
“I left the prison two weeks later on a tag. I was in jail for a stupid mistake, which I regret and have now paid for.”
The call centre also calls businesses and is currently closed due to the pandemic. However under normal circumstances it would be operating.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Work opportunities allow offenders to gain employment skills while in custody and help improve their chance of getting a job on release.
“All prisoners who work in call centres are risk assessed for the role, strictly monitored and unable to make outbound calls.”
Commenting on claims Welsh speakers were being discriminated against at the jail, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “This is completely untrue.
“We are providing extra staff training and mentors to encourage Welsh speaking at the prison.”