Yahoo News Prisoner who showed off ‘comfortable’ cell on Instagram still posting on social media a week after Prison Service promised ‘decisive action’
A prisoner, who bragged about his “comfortable” jail cell to thousands of people on Instagram, is still posting on social media more than a week after the Prison Service pledged “decisive action” on contraband mobile phones.
Yusuf Ademola has continued to regularly use Instagram and Snapchat, sharing clips of himself watching the Royal wedding and FA Cup final in his HMP Pentonville cell, in the days after the Telegraph revealed he was the convict in the ‘Prison Bae’ video.
The 27-year-old, who was jailed for 12 years in December after police found a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition hidden behind a bedroom cupboard, also posted a clip of him showing off a second mobile phone.
Inmates are banned from having mobiles in jail and face up to two years further imprisonment if caught using them.
Last week the Prison Service said Ademola’s social media activity was “completely unacceptable” after it emerged he had given a 17-minute video tour of his cell on Instagram.
During that broadcast Ademola joined the fashion vlogger Aliyah Maria Bee’s Instagram live stream and displayed his gold chain, watches, expensive trainers, TV and PlayStation.
At one point he even produced a certificate showing that he was HMP Pentonville Strong Man 2017.
Bee, who has over 100,000 Instagram followers, dubbed Ademola “Prison Bae” and shared a clip of the stream on Twitter, where it was viewed more than 300,000 times.
After being alerted to the broadcast by the Telegraph on Monday 14 May, the Ministry of Justice released a statement saying: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and the content is being removed from social media.
“We are taking decisive action and investing £2 million to find and block mobile phones in prison and anyone who breaks prison rules can face extra time behind bars.”
A spokesman for the government department said: “This Instagram account has been removed and the prison is taking action to prevent any repeat..”
Frequent social media posts
In the week since the Prison Service became aware of the Prison Bae video, Ademola has been posting on Snapchat and Instagram almost daily.
Since joining Instagram in January, Ademola has managed to build up a following of more than 3,500 while behind bars.
On Tuesday he posted a clip describing his "summer look" to "get comfy" before proclaiming "f--- the tabloids", referencing the media coverage of the Prison Bae video
Over the weekend he then posted clips of himself watching the Royal wedding and using a misogynistic and derogatory term to describe the Duchess of Sussex.
He and a cellmate were also seen laughing at the Royal family and asking why the rapper Drake had not been invited.
Another Instagram video posted on Monday showed him watching TV in his cell with the caption: “I’ll be back before I know it. Minor setback major comeback”.
On Wednesday also posted a video of him and another prisoner showing off a second Nokia phone in their cell.
Prison Bae video
In March Ademola became a minor social media celebrity when Bee unwittingly selected him at random from her followers to join one of her Instagram live streams.
Initially he hid his location by holding his hood up and seemed in a rush to ask her questions about where she was from at the beginning of the broadcast.
When she commented that the inmate appeared to be in a hurry, he moved the camera to show his cell door and said: “I can’t be here for long, yeah. Man’s in HMP Pentonville blud. Honestly, man’s in the can right now.”
During the broadcast, which he likened to “HMP Cribs” after the MTV show where celebrities allow camera crews into their mansions, Ademola showed off his stereo system, a flat screen TV with “bere (many) DVDs” and a games console.
He also flaunted two watches and his gold chain for the camera, saying “we got the jewels”, and his pair of Air Jordan trainers, which retail for around £100.
The display prompted Bee to exclaim: “You’re really living the dream. This is the pengest (best) jail I’ve ever seen” and she later said the cell appeared to be“bigger than most people's uni dorms”
When she suggested that Ademola might not want to be released from his well-furnished confines, he replied: “Of course I want to come out. Hey listen, I'm just trying to live comfortable”.
He also urged young people watching “don't come to jail”.
In one of his Instagram posts this week Ademola complained about the coverage of the Prison Bae video saying: “I never glorified jail or bragging about what I have. Freedom is priceless and I would do anything for it back.”
Mobile phones in jail
Ademola is currently incarcerated in HMP Pentonville, a Victorian prison in North London that is home to around 1,200 category B and C inmates.
In 2013 it had one of the highest numbers of phones confiscated, 149, out of a total of 7,451 across the country.
Tens of thousands of mobile phones are smuggled into the UK’s prisons every year and are used by inmates to organise criminal activity inside and outside jail.
A 2015 Home Office report into the issue said: “We know of criminals using unauthorised mobile phones in prisons to enable serious crimes, including murder and the importation of firearms.
“Phones have been used to arrange large, harmful drug imports and even to facilitate prison escapes.”
