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Facebook prisoner faces inquiry

25 June 2009

A convicted robber from Greater Manchester is being investigated after being able to update his Facebook page from his cell in Lancashire.

Kane Barratt, 21, from Stockport, is being held at Lancaster prison and is believed to update his webpage from a mobile phone.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed an investigation has taken place.

A Prison Service spokesman said that prisoners would not usually have mobile phones or internet access.

Barratt, who uses the name Kane Reilly on Facebook, appears to have updated the site with photos and comments about life in prison.

The Prison Service spokesman said: "Prisoners do not have access to mobile phones or the internet and cannot personally contribute to websites.

"This form of media is totally unregulated and we have no power to remove a social networking profile from the internet.

"Body Orifice Security Scanners will soon be introduced. These will be supported by high sensitivity metal detectors and mobile phone signal detectors.

Terrorised victims

"The Ministry of Justice has contacted Facebook in order to seek their help in assisting the Prison Service in preventing prisoners from making inappropriate postings on their website."

Barratt, of Heathland Terrace, is serving five and a half years after admitting two robberies and three burglaries at Manchester Crown Court last year.

He was part of a gang that broke into a number of homes, terrorised victims and stole their car keys in a six-week crime spree in Bury, Oldham, Stockport and Rochdale.

Cars were stolen from victims, who were threatened with weapons such as machetes, and some homes were burgled more than three times by the gang.

Barratt pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and three counts of burglary. The court heard that he repeatedly breached an anti-social behaviour order and also stole £1,500 worth of cigarettes from a supermarket.

Source: BBC News | Technology