...and just look at the fun they can have behind bars
THEY look like they don’t have a care in the world, fooling about and showing off to their friends.
As one poses topless, knocking back energy drinks, his pals bathe naked in a sink.
But these men are violent prisoners and the photographs were taken on an illegal phone in jail and posted online.
John Reid, who killed a man with one punch, and cellmate Michael Roberts have sparked outrage after brazenly sharing the pictures of themselves inside Saughton Prison in Edinburgh and boasting about beating the system.
Reid, 23, was jailed in 2010 for the racist attack on delivery driver Simon San outside his family’s Chinese restaurant in the city. Jail chiefs have ordered an investigation. The images, posted on a fake Facebook profile and Roberts’s Instagram account, show the pair bathing in a sink and standing next to another prisoner, Lee Ridgeway, topless. Under the social media name Mikey Ootsoon, Roberts posted last month: ‘F**k
‘This killer’s having the time of his life’
the system.’ Then on Monday he wrote that his mobile phone had been taken off him.
Mr San died the day after Reid’s punch caused him to fall to the ground, resulting in a serious head injury. His attacker was jailed for five years for culpable homicide, but was freed after three years.
Reid is behind bars again after being sentenced to five years and four months for punching a woman in the head and robbing a man at knifepoint. Roberts got three years for helping him rob the man.
Responding to the social media posts and photos, lawyer Aamer Anwar, who acted for Mr San’s family, said: ‘This man destroyed the San family. He has been given a chance at life by our justice system. Sadly, John Reid is not one of the people who look like they will take it.
‘He has a chance at life – he never gave Simon a chance.’
James Price, campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Law-abiding taxpayers will be shocked to hear that prisoners boast about an easy life.
‘Staff are under pressure to ensure that prison not only acts as a deterrent but also helps inmates change their ways, so the authorities must look at ways to ensure they do more with their budgets.’
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said of Reid: ‘These images will do nothing to convince his victims that he’s serving any kind of punishment while in prison.
‘Going on these photographs, this killer’s having the time of his life.’ The images and posts were also widely criticised by social media users. One, Andrew Aitken, said: ‘When are they going to make prison like prison again?’
The Scottish Prison Service said: ‘The SPS cannot close social media profiles... The SPS only has the ability to investigate and request removal of Facebook accounts that are proven to be accessed while a prisoner is in our care.’