HI-TECH PLAN WILL BLOCK JAIL MOBILES
Brazen criminals face crackdown
MSPs will today back new legislation to banish mobile phones from jails.
It follows a series of reports in the Record showing how inmates flout existing rules by openly posting on social media from mobile devices while behind bars.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson wants to use technology to block active phones in prisons.
Holyrood’s Justice Committee are expected to rubber stamp the plan when members meet today.
Last night, Matheson said: “The unauthorised use of mobile phones in prisons potentially presents a serious threat to both the security of prisons and the wider public. The irresponsible and illegal use of phones also causes offence to victims of crime.
“The Scottish Government have made changes to the law to create offences for the possession and introduction of mobile phones or their component parts to prisons and to allow interference with networks within two prisons to disrupt phone use.
“These regulations will further support our commitment to reducing the harm caused by illegal activity within our prisons.”
The Record revealed last week how prisoners posted nude pictures of themselves from inside jail.
Knife robber Michael Roberts and fellow inmates shared photos openly mocking security rules at Saughton Prison in Edinburgh.
He even uploaded a video of a thug friend punching another inmate.
The hooded pal is understood to be one-punch killer John Reid, whose victim Simon San died in 2010.
We revealed how Roberts bragged online that he still had a mobile despite being locked in a segregation cell after a raid by prison guards.