Oakwood Prison inmates using smuggled phones to post Snapchat videos
Prisoners have been using smuggled mobile phones to broadcast drug-fuelled parties on social media sites.
Inmates are not allowed smartphones, but have apparently used the handsets to post footage from inside jails like Winson Green and Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, in the last month.
Videos have been anonymously published to Snapchat, which allows anyone to find public videos by location without revealing the user.
An inmate at HMP Oakwood in Featherstone was among those to post videos showing life in the jail.
Meanwhile footage posted earlier this month from inside HMP Birmingham showed inmates dancing to loud music in a cell and relaxing on the prison gantry. Other videos were posted from prisons like Wormwood Scrubs in London. The Ministry of Justice has branded the behaviour ‘completely unacceptable’ and said ‘those who break prison rules will face tough punishments, including extra time behind bars’.
It comes after prison officers walked out of their workplaces on Friday amid fears of growing levels of violence in jails. Although there was no walkout at Oakwood, say bosses.
Glyn Travis, the assistant general secretary of union The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA), said contraband is thrown over jail walls ‘on a daily basis’. It is even flown in by drone ‘like a pizza delivery’, while smugglers also conceal contraband on their bodies, he claimed. He went on to say a ‘very, very small’ minority of banned items are brought in by prison staff. Mr Travis added: “Prisons are currently awash with drugs and mobile phones.”
Staff at Featherstone, Stafford, Brinsford and Birmingham began striking on Friday morning after being urged to leave their workplaces by the POA.
The union called for members in prisons across England and Wales to protest from 7am in response to a report about safety at HMP Bedford.
The report, released on Thursday from Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, raised concerns about the potential for a ‘complete breakdown’ in order and discipline at HMP Bedford. Prison officers united, protesting outside jails due to the ‘unprecedented decline in health and safety standards’ over the past six years, unions secretary Mr Steve Gillan added.
