Express & Star

Jailhouse rap: Prisoners film music video from behind bars

Two prisoners - one serving time for springing Black Country drug baron, John Anslow from his prison van - have filmed a rap video from behind bars at HMP Birmingham.

Published
Demehl Thomas and Moysha Shepherd in their music video

Demehl Thomas and Moysha Shepherd are thought to have captured footage of themselves on a banned mobile phone before it was uploaded on to the internet.

Bosses at HMP Birmingham have launched an investigation.

Shepherd, 23, of Hamstead Road, Great Barr, is serving time after pleading guilty to conspiring to free Anslow - once the country's most wanted man and hailing from Tipton - from a prison van in 2012.

John Anslow, who is currently serving 29 years in Belmarsh Prison

Thomas, 25, was serving a sentence for aggravated burglary but is believed to have been freed on licence earlier this year before being returned for breaching the terms of his release.

By the time he was recalled in June he had compiled an album under the stage name Remtrex which was released on iTunes earlier this month.

The expletive-filled video shows the pair performing while dressed in black vests, taking it in turns to rap.

At one point Thomas says: "I want a mansion and I want my kids to live good. I don't want to get locked up or killed in the hood."

A second mobile phone appears to be charging in the background in the footage.

It is understood that the two do not share a cell and it is unclear in which room the film was shot.

Prison officials were said to have been tipped off last week but when the inmates' cells were searched no mobile phone was found.

Birmingham Prison is a Victorian jail holding adult male inmates with a capacity of 1,450. It has been run by G4S since 2011.

Moysha Shepherd's police mugshot

The firm confirmed that mobile phones are banned.

Prison director Pete Small said:"Like every other prison in the country, it is a constant challenge to detect and seize contraband items such as mobile phones.

"Our prison custody officers are trained to look for contraband and we conduct regular and targeted cell searches to remove mobile phones, chargers and sim cards.

"In this instance, searches had already been carried out based on intelligence gathered and, as a result of the information received, further searches will be conducted."

Figures show that in 2013 a total of 7,541 illicit mobile phones or sim cards were discovered in jails around the country.

Anslow is currently serving 29 years in Belmarsh Prison as a Triple Category A prisoner.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.