Prison chiefs splurge £22.4million on in-cell TVs and phones for lags including killers

PRISON chiefs have spent £22.4million on in-cell TVs and phones for lags including killers and rapists.

Figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday show 97,500 specially made TVs have been fitted at a cost of £8.8million in the past three years.

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97,500 flatscreen televisions have been purchased for prisoners’ cells at a cost of £8.8million in the last three years.[/caption]

They come in transparent plastic casing, which stops inmates hiding contraband inside.

A further £13.6million has gone in the same period on 19,500 BT Duet 210 phones so that privileged prisoners can chat to friends and relatives.

Under a scheme launched in 2018, calls which may be recorded can be made only to approved numbers.

The Ministry of Justice says TVs are used to encourage good behaviour while phones help maintain relationships and improve inmates’ chances of going straight when released.

But ex-Met detective Peter Bleksley said: “It sickens me to think of some of the people in prisons lying back with a TV control in one hand and a phone in another. It seems a way of buying discipline.”

The Prison Service said prisoners have to pay for TVs and phones using their jail wages.