Jailhouse rap: Prisoners charged after music video filmed behind bars

Demehl Thomas and Moysha Shepherd are accused of using a mobile phone – which is alleged to have been illegally smuggled into the Winson Green facility – to film a 'selfie rap' in which they boast about drug dealing and violent assaults on rival gang members.

The footage was later uploaded to the internet.

The charge is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind under the 1952 Prison Act.

Thomas, previously of Vernolds Croft in Highgate and Shepherd from Hampstead Road in Handsworth, have been charged with making a sound recording without authorisation between August 1 and August 16 this year.

Thomas, 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 25-year-olds are set to appear via video link at Birmingham Magistrates Court tomorrow.

West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Nick Dale, said: "The law is intended to minimise the potential for a camera or recording device being used to produce images or sound which can then be transmitted to people outside the prison and possibly compromise security or pose a threat to the safety of prisoners and staff.

"There is no security issue in this case… Rather an allegation of two inmates brazenly defying prison rules to show-off and give the impression they are still calling the shots behind bars."

People convicted of making a sound recording in prison face a maximum penalty of an additional two years behind bars.

G4S Director for HMP Birmingham, Pete Small, said: "Prisoners should be in no doubt that where legislation exists in addition to prison rules, we will always pursue the toughest sanctions possible."

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

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

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."