‘Ban sale of mini mobiles to stop jail smugglers’

THE Justice Secretary has called for a ban on the sale of miniature mobile phones designed to be smuggled past prison guards.

David Lidington will urge online retailers to stop selling the devices, which are no bigger than a cigarette lighter. Officials have warned the tiny phones are freely available on the internet and are designed to go undetected by body orifice security scanners that are in place in jails around England and Wales.

The Ministry of Justice said prisoners and organised gangs could buy the phones for £25 and smuggle them into prisons, where they sell for up to £500.

In a speech today, Mr Lidington will say: “It’s pretty clear these miniature phones are being advertised and sold with the purpose of being smuggled. That’s why today, I am calling on online retailers and trading websites to take down products that are advertised to evade detection measures in prisons.”

Mobile phones have emerged as a major security challenge for prisons, where they help facilitate more crime and are used to intimidate victims from behind bars.

Miniature mobile phones disguised as car keys have also become a favourite among prison inmates, who are able to smuggle the devices past guards. Last year, prison officers recovered more than 13,000 mobile phones and 7,000 sim cards.

Prisons have introduced orifice scanners, which X-ray inmates, while some have been fitted with limited-use phones in cells, in an attempt to stop trade in mobile phones.

The surge in smuggling underlines the challenges facing prison officers, who have faced staff cuts and increased violence in recent years.

The MOJ is working with mobile network operators on technology to block phone signals, while millions of pounds have been invested in hand-held detection equipment for prison staff.

In his speech, Mr Lidington will say: “Tackling the availability of drugs and mobile phones is as much about targeting the gangs and supply chains that operate beyond the prison walls as it is about detecting and managing them once they arrive inside the prison walls.”