Government plans to stop lags using mobile phones to spread terrorism with prisons signal jam
Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said he expected 'responsible' companies to cooperate with the initiative
PRISONERS who use illegal phones to spread “extremist poison” face being cut-off under new government plans.
Mobile phone operators have a held high-level meeting with the government to stop the phone signal from penetrating prison walls.
Firms have been asked to develop “new technological solutions” to prevent inmates from engaging in criminality beyond jail.
Figures show that 15,000 Sim cards were confiscated by prison chiefs last year. It follows 9745 handsets and sim cards found in 2014.
Brazen lags are also buying from Amazon tiny mobile phones including the Zanco Fly complete with a 0.66 inch screen.
The issue was raised by Tory MP David Warburton who told the Commons that the link between technology and radicalisation by the spreading of extremism is one of the most “critical challenges” we face.
Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said technology is “vital to detecting and blocking” phones.
Speaking of mobile phone operators, he added: “As responsible businesses, I expect those operators to co-operate fully.”
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The government announced last month that the country’s most dangerous extremists will be held in isolated cells to stop them radicalising other criminals.
It came after radical preacher Anjem Choudary was convicted of swearing allegiance to the so-called Islamic State. He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.