Nicola Sturgeon has faced criticism after it emerged that thousands of 'unhackable' mobile phones issued to prisoners in Scotland are being used to commit crimes, including drug deals. The Scottish Government distributed 7,600 tamper-proof phones at a cost of £3 million to allow inmates to stay in touch with family during Covid lockdowns.
According to ITV, more than 720 of these phones have been tampered with by prisoners who inserted illegal SIM cards to facilitate drug deals and other offences. One prison officer at HMP Barlinnie told the broadcaster that inmates began interfering with the tamper-proofing 'within hours'. Video footage also appeared to show a man throwing drugs over the prison wall.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was unaware of the issue but promised an investigation. She stated: 'We created a different way for prisoners to have contact with their families... If you want to give me evidence of phones being tampered with, I will absolutely look at that.' However, critics on social media called for an urgent inquiry, with one user describing it as an 'extraordinary revelation'.
Prison officer John McTavish, who works at HMP Barlinnie, told ITV that in one hall, about a third of phones had been tampered with. He said: 'You give a prisoner a phone, and they're very, very ingenious... Within hours, the tamper proof was gone.' The Scottish Government spokesperson said it was working with prisoners to provide support and counselling for addictions.
The controversy comes amid Scotland's ongoing drug death crisis, with 1,339 deaths recorded in 2020, the highest rate in Europe. Sturgeon previously described the figures as 'unacceptable' and a 'human tragedy'.
