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Prisoners at Barlinnie to get landlines installed in their cells

Barlinnie <i>(Image: Supplied)</i>
Barlinnie (Image: Supplied)

INMATES at a Glasgow jail are set to get landlines installed in their cells instead of mobile phones.

Handsets were given to prisoners to help them stay connected with family and friends during the pandemic.

However, the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Government confirmed the taxpayer-funded phones are being 'phased out' and will be removed from inmates in the coming months.

A multi-million-pound programme of installing landlines will be rolled out, after prison chiefs found jail phones brought benefits such as improved prisoner behaviour.

The mobile scheme handed thousands of devices to ­prisoners in 2020, with limited call minutes and text and internet usage blocked on the prison-approved numbers. But ­smuggled SIMs allowed these restrictions to be abused.

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In March it was revealed that cons had misused the devices more than 7000 times.

Glasgow Times:
Glasgow Times:

Prison chiefs have started fitting in-cell phones, including at Barlinnie in Riddrie.

It’s claimed the SPS is spending £1.3 million for a “cloud-based PIN phone service” which includes the installation of “analogue in-cell phones”, support and maintenance.

The SPS said: “In the coming months, we will be introducing a new, hard-wired, in-cell telephony system to the prison estate.

“This will be governed using the same robust security measures which are already in place for all telephone communications.

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The Scottish Government said the in-cell service would launch by the summer and would allow the SPS to continue to record and monitor calls.

A spokesperson added: “Prison-issued mobile phones, which were introduced to support contact, including with key services, such as the Samaritans, during the Covid pandemic, will be recovered on a phased basis over the coming months.”