World's Smallest Phone Consumers...

Smallest Phone

Small, discreet and completely innocent looking, this tiny 'key fob phone' has been widely advertised as a 'fun item'. But they are deadly serious to the prisoners inside British jails, who have been smuggling them in to make illegal calls.

The tiny handsets, which sell for £40 on various auction sites, can be easily hidden from guards, and offer inmates the chance to make calls or texts. Although they do not have internet access, possession of the phone is highly prized - as seen by the 7,000 handsets and SIM cards seized in English and Welsh prisons last year, The Times reported.
Various sellers boast that the phones, which often have logos on, are made with minimal metal and are largely constructed of plastic. This will be useful to buyers who want to use them in prison as they will evade the metal detectors used in prisons to hunt out contraband items.

Having a mobile phone in jail is a criminal offence carrying a two-year sentence and/ or an unlimited fine.
 
Currently there are approximately 41,000 confiscated mobile phones in storage, costing the Prison Service £20,000 per anum, according to official figures. At present, inmates are given enough money to buy stamps and make phone calls to keep in touch with their family.
Currently, prisons cannot destroy mobile phones that are confiscated, but a new Bill hopes to change that. In February, a Bill giving prisons new powers to destroy or dispose of unauthorised property found in the possession of prisoners received Royal Assent.

e-Bay

The Prisons (Property) Bill, backed by the Ministry of Justice, will allow Governors to destroy, recycle, sell or donate illicit mobile phones and other unauthorized items. Any proceeds will go to charities or other suitable organizations.

Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said: 'We are determined to address the problems caused by mobile phones and contraband in prisons - it is totally unacceptable that prisons have had to pay for storing these items after confiscation.

'This Bill will give new powers to prison authorities so that they can dispose of mobile phones and unauthorised property in an appropriate and cost-effective way.'
The new powers will apply to items found in the possession of a prisoner or an escort vehicle.

The Private Members Bill has been brought forward by Stuart Andrew MP in the House of Commons and Lord Ramsbotham in the House of Lords.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'The Government is clamping down on mobile phones in prison and our rigorous security measures mean even the smallest mobiles can be detected and kept out of prison.

'A range of techniques - including Body Orifice Security Scanners and high sensitivity metal detectors - has seen the number of recorded seizures increase.

'We're now working closely with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Trading Standards to remove these small mobiles from sale in the UK, as well as legislating to block phone signals in prisons.'