Jam prisoners' mobile phone signals

Monday, November 23, 2009

A prison inspector has called for the signals of mobile phones to be jammed inside prisons.

David Jamieson, chairman of Wandsworth prison's Independent Monitoring Board, warned that allowing illegal phones to be used in prison can aid drug trading, bullying and gang problems.

Jamieson told the BBC's Inside Out programme that it would be impossible to stop phones being smuggled in as they are becoming ever-smaller. But signal-blocking technology would render them useless, Jamieson said, preventing prisoners from coordinating crime.

"The technology... does exist. It would cost about £250,000 to equip a prison to jam calls. That would pay for itself quite easily over time," he said.

Jamieson also accused the government of "pussyfooting around" the issue.

The Prison Service admitted it was feasible, but added that it is technically challenging and not quick, simple or cheap to implement.

The Ministry of Justice said it was already an offence to smuggle a phone into prison and that a new bill included laws intended to make it illegal to possess one in jail.

"The objective of this clause is to act as an additional deterrent to those who consider trafficking a mobile phone and/or its component parts into a prison, or to have them in their possession and to punish those who do," said a spokesman.