ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Inmate Found To Be Making Twitter And YouTube Videos From Prison

Inmate Found To Be Making Twitter And YouTube Videos From Prison

Union bosses say prisoners must be stopped from getting devices on the inside

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

An inmate within the UK's prison system has been running a YouTube account from his cell on an illegal mobile phone.

Convicted drug dealer Sam Walker managed to maintain several social media accounts, including a YouTube and Twitter profile, from within a jail in Leeds.

A union boss has now said that much more needs to be done to stop prisoners managing to get banned smart phones and other devices inside prisons.

Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officer's Association, called for body scanners and signal jamming technology to combat the use of such illicit devices inside the prison system.

Sam Walker's Twitter page.
Twitter

He described the situation as 'frustrating' and said that lads were finding ever more 'ingenious' ways to sneak devices behind bars.

Well, there was some work to be done, given what we usually believe the method to be.

In the case of Walker, his Twitter account has more than 19,000 followers - although the description says that it is an 'unofficial account being run until Sam's home' - and links to a YouTube channel on which several videos have been posted from within the jail.

The Ministry of Justice told BBC News that Walker has now been moved from the prison in Yorkshire to HMP Peterborough, although it seems that his social media activity has continued since that relocation.

He even claimed - although the authenticity can't be proven - that he'd filmed notorious prisoner Charles Bronson.

The video, posted on August 10, was captioned: "Big Charlie Bronson becomes camera shy while I video him. All 6ft5ins & 20 stone of him."

Yeah, it's probably not him.
Twitter

It's probably not him, but still.

Mr Fairhurst said that staff at the prison think that an accomplice has been posting things under Walker's name and on his behalf, but that they'd not been able to find a phone despite repeatedly searching his cell.

That means that he might have concealed it 'in his person'.

Ingenious, indeed.

Fairhurst continued: "What we need is for the officers to get in that cell and get [the phone] off him, but they have ingenious ways of hiding mobile phones.

"If in fact he uses the popular choice, and he secretes the mobile phone in his person, we do not have the authority to take it from him.

"We're very reliant on storming in his cell and getting it while he's using it. It is very frustrating."

The account has shared several pictures and videos from within prisons.
Twitter

He continued: "Realistically, as we've been highlighting, we want the technology in our jails to prevent mobile phone signals.

"That technology is available. It can isolate specific points in a prison. Of course, it costs money. I get the impression it's all down to funding."

Soxedo, a company that runs the prison in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, said that 'immediate action' had been taken, but didn't say what exactly they'd done.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter

Topics: UK News, Weird