Best of fiends
Knife killers post prison pics using banned mobile phones
TWO knife murderers have teamed up in jail to mock the rules by posting pictures using banned mobile phones.
Edward Dearie and Jack Cramb are serving sentences in Shotts prison in Lanarkshire for stabbing people to death in separate incidents.
The thugs have become firm pals behind bars and decided to flaunt their friendship by illegally posting snaps together on Facebook.
Dearie, 34, was jailed for life in 2010 for the Christmas Day 2009 murder of Stuart Spence, 23, in Glasgow.
Cramb, 25, was 19 when he was jailed for killing the late crime clan boss Big Mags Haney’s grandson Barry Bradley in Alva, Clackmannanshire, in July 2010.
Dearie was given an additional six months on his sentence in August 2013 after being caught with a mobile phone behind bars.
But that hasn’t deterred him and Cramb from showing off their defiance of the authorities by using illegal mobiles to post on social media.
A source said last night: “It’s ridiculous.
“People are sent to prison to be punished for a crime. Not to have it easy and post pictures, update your Facebook or phone your family up whenever you fancy it.”
Our photograph of the pair posing together came to light after we began investigating the online presence of cons in Scottish prisons.
In November last year, we revealed Cramb had been posting his selfies on Facebook under the name Maximus Payet.
We also published photos of a number of other brazen cons taken behind bars.
The Scottish Prison Service say it is a criminal offence for a prisoner to possess a mobile.
A spokesman said yesterday: “We do not comment on individual prisoners.
“We do not permit access to the internet and therefore to social media sites. SPS cannot close social media profiles.
“Upon identification of a profile for a prisoner, we request removal from the site.
“The SPS only have the ability to investigate and request the removal of Facebook accounts that are proven to be accessed while a prisoner is in our care.
“The possession of a mobile phone in prison is a criminal offence. If we receive information to suggest prisoners are in possession of devices, we will take all appropriate action and report it to the relevant authorities.”
But the emergence of Dearie’s photos is the latest incident to highlight a lack of security in Scottish prisons.
His illicit mobile phone means he has unlimited access to the outside world and can keep in touch with family and friends.
On a Facebook page under the name EdgyUp Ed, Dearie’s face appears in a photo alongside a young boy’s as he Facetimes the youngster – believed to be his son – in the outside world.
He writes: “Doesn’t get any better. Watching the game in mines with ****** .”
In other posts, he shares screen grabs of football betting odds as well as topless photographs of himself.
In one post, dated September 9 this year, Dearie uploaded a photo believed to be of him as a child with his dad.
His sister Mary Dearie wrote underneath it: “Aw look at u and ma da so alike.”
In March 2013, Dearie was caught with a banned mobile phone by prison bosses after he recorded a love song in his cell then posted it online.
The murderer showed off his guitar track Kiss Me – penned behind bars – on YouTube then boasted on Facebook that he planned to make an album.
Dearie, who has a record for assault and carrying a machete and hammer, was ordered to serve at least 18 years of his life sentence before he can ask for parole.
During his trial, the court heard how Stuart Spence, who lived near Dearie in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, was visiting a friend when he was attacked.
He died in hospital after doctors were unable to stop massive internal bleeding.