Over 100 Facebook pages run by Scots inmates shut down

‘Serious threat to security’

PRISON bosses have shut down 105 Facebook accounts operated by criminals in Scottish jails over the past three years.

Scottish Prison Service (SPS) figures reveal 24 have been closed this year alone as part of a crackdown on social media use among inmates.

Inmates ‘torment’ victims and taunt the authorities by shamelessly accessing sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from their cells.

They have exploited lax security to smuggle smartphones into jails and then post photos and videos online.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘It’s absurd to think prisoners, who aren’t meant to have access to mobile phones, could run social media pages from prison.

‘When this is detected, it’s absolutely right the SPS shuts them down as quickly as possible.

‘If prisoners can operate social media pages from inside, it merely allows them to torment their victims and continue their criminal activity from behind bars.

‘The SPS is to be congratulated for managing to detect and shut down so many – but it is concerning that inmates are able to set them up in the first place.’

Figures released after a freedom of information request reveal that 44 Facebook accounts were closed down in 2014, 25 in 2015, 12 in 2016 and 24 between January and November of this year.

The SPS said it has a ‘protocol’ with Facebook for ‘accessing, reviewing and closing down accounts’, but not with any other social media company. Separate figures last year showed prisoners had been caught accessing Facebook in Scotland’s jails almost 500 times in the previous five years.

In October it was revealed an investigation has been launched after nude photographs of inmates at Edinburgh’s Saughton Prison were posted on social media.

TV hardman Ross Kemp claimed inmates traded smartphones for up to £2,000 each at Barlinnie jail in Glasgow on his TV documentary about the prison last month.

It also emerged last month that Scottish prisons will be fitted with signal blockers in a bid to stop inmates using mobile phones.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson outlined plans for a crackdown on the illegal use of phones in jails. This will strengthen action against their use, including the use of network technology to block active phones within prisons and permit court orders to remove devices from networks.

Having a mobile phone in prison is a criminal offence but hundreds are found every year. It is thought the new equipment will cost up to £1million to install and ministers have accepted it will be of no use in open prisons, where inmates can make calls from outside.

Mr Matheson said mobile phones in jails ‘potentially presents a serious threat to the security of prisons and the wider public’.

The SPS said: ‘We do not permit access to the internet and therefore to social media sites.

‘Upon identification of a profile for a prisoner, we request removal from the site.

‘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.

‘If we receive information to suggest that prisoners are in possession of [smartphones] we will take all appropriate action and report it to the relevant authorities.’