Not again! Stephen killer caught with second phone
Outrage as another mobile found in his cell two months after first
PRISON chiefs are facing serious questions after one of Stephen Lawrence’s jailed killers was found in possession of a mobile phone for the second time in two months.
In yet another appalling security lapse, likely to anger the teenager’s family, a small phone has been discovered in the cell of racist thug David Norris.
It was found weeks after a ‘furious’ Brandon Lewis, who was justice secretary at the time, vowed that the ex-gangster’s son would face ‘consequences’ after he was caught illegally using a smartphone in prison in September.
Officials found that device in an intimate part of his body while investigating the Daily Mail’s bombshell revelations that Norris had sent WhatsApp messages and selfies from his cell to friends outside jail.
Amid fears that a corrupt member of prison staff had supplied the smartphone to him, a police investigation was launched.
Now a second police probe is under way after a small phone was found in his cell at HMP Dartmoor following a raid by the Prison Service’s roving ‘designated search team’.
Sources said the small analogue phone recovered on Friday was likely to have been shared with other inmates.
Norris has been ‘locked up’ in his cell on the
‘This is a disgrace, a major breach of security’
cushy E-wing at Dartmoor, where inmates enjoy privileges, in the wake of the latest discovery, insiders said.
It is understood he was moved there earlier this month after he was attacked by two inmates on the tougher C-wing at the prison.
Last night the Prison Service confirmed the second mobile phone scandal to engulf Norris, jailed for life for murdering Stephen, 18, in Eltham, south London, in 1993.
In a statement, it warned: ‘We do not tolerate illicit phones in jail and prisoners found with them should expect to face longer behind bars. Police are investigating and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.’
The pioneering former president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, said last night of the Norris phone controversy:
‘ This is a disgrace. Utterly scandalous. A lot of crimes are planned in prison through illicit mobile phones.
‘This is a major breach of secuout rity and I hope the Justice Secretary will order an inquiry into how Norris obtained yet another phone. The governor of Dartmoor Prison must take responsibility for what has happened. Norris is sticking two fingers up at the justice system.’
Lord Mackenzie, who supported this newspaper’s ‘Justice for Stephen’ campaign in the late 1990s, added: ‘I congratulate the Daily Mail for exposing Norris and the failures at Dartmoor. It is reassuring that 25 years after its famous MURDERERS front page, the Mail is still fighting for justice for Stephen and his family.’
Investigators will want to find who supplied the phone and how it was funded.
As with the illicit smartphone discovered in his body in September, there are fears that a corrupt member of prison staff may have been paid to provide it.
Sources say the latest discovery will further harm Norris’s hopes of being moved to a cushy category D open prison in the coming years.
He could be switched to a tougher, higher-security prison in the coming weeks in the aftermath of the latest security breach.
Two weeks ago it emerged that Norris had been scarred for life after being slashed in the face by two inmates. He needed 50 stitches and, according to sources, has a ‘horrific line’ down his face as a result of the assault.
It is believed he was attacked over allegations he spread rumours about other inmates.
In September, the Daily Mail revealed how the killer – one of two men convicted of murdering Stephen – was using a smartphone to call and text friends plus log onto Facebook and watch YouTube videos.
In a foul-mouthed WhatsApp rant, he launched a vile attack on former justice secretary Dominic Raab, who had blocked his bid to move to an open prison in May.
Norris brazenly posted a picture of himself behind bars wearing Top Gun-style aviator sunglasses and with his TV and Xbox games console in the background.
The Mail has since obtained another picture of Armani-wearing Norris, wearing a prison issue facemask with the name of his favourite football team, Millwall, daubed on it. It too was sent to friends outside.
In September, a whistle-blower also alleged Norris bragged that he was the gang member who stabbed Stephen to death.
Mr Raab has now returned to his old post of Justice Secretary and is likely to be furious with the latest security breach, sources said.
Five men were initially arrested over the racist murder of A-level student Stephen. After a widely acclaimed campaign for justice by this newspaper, Norris and Gary Dobson, 47, were jailed for life for murder in 2012.