Yahoo News Brazen inmates post footage of themselves 'kicking back' at HMP Doncaster...AGAIN
A group of brazen prisoners have posted selfies of themselves online, along with a video tour of their cells, just weeks after being punished for a similar offence.
The inmates posted footage of themselves proudly posing at privately-run HMP Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
The images, filmed on mobile phones and posted on Facebook. show them “kicking back” while serving time, wearing designer tracksuits, with games consoles and TVs in their cell.
The 44-second clip shows one inmate playing pool and dancing then gesturing towards the camera with his fingers as music blares out.
The footage has prompted one MP to brand security at the prison a farce – given that inmates are banned from possessing mobile phones and posting on social media.
The group of inmates, aged in their early 20s, are thought to be from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and to have known each other before being jailed.
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They have already been disciplined for breaching prison rules by updating their social media profiles last month but continued to post online.
When a member of the public commented a post saying, “you lot will be in the paper again”, an inmate replied, “that’s the aim mate”.
The pictures include Dom Hunter, Mikey Pemberton, Tom Lalor, Kyle Thompkins and Michael Craggs – who was sentenced just last month for burgling a house.
MP Phillip Davies branded the situation at HMP Doncaster “an absolute farce” and has demanded the Prison Service to “get a grip”.
He said: “I have argued for a long time that prison is too soft and this proves the point.
“People are sent to prison to be punished and this is an absolute farce. What sort of a regime is this?
“Given they know these people are using mobile phones in prison, they should be searched on a regular basis.
“The message it sends out is that there is no deterrent to committing a crime, and it’s not good enough. It’s a kick in the teeth to victims of crime.”
HMP Doncaster is a Category B men’s private prison containing 1,145 inmates run by public service provider Serco.
Serco contract director Jerry Spencer said: “We are working extremely hard to stop the illegal use of mobile phones.
“It is a problem faced in all prisons and we have recently installed a new body scanner to help find phones that people are trying to smuggle in.
“The phone used in this incident has been found and confiscated and the individuals concerned have been referred to the Independent Adjudicator who has the power to add up to 42 days to a prisoner’s sentence.”
