Thousands of phones seized in jail following Nats' botched scheme

SNP own goal... Lags committed crimes by using their free phones

- By David Walker Scottish Politics Reporter

OVER 3,000 mobile phones have been confiscated in Scottish prisons over the last three years, with the SNP's botched free phones for all prisoners scheme blamed for the scale of the issue.

Then-Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf gave all inmates free mobile phones during the Covid pandemic, enabling them to commit crimes while behind bars, and at a cost of £6m to taxpayers.

It ended in failure after a report found prisoners used illicit Sim cards and bypassed restrictions to rack up more than 8,000 security breaches - including drug deals and the firebombing of homes. All devices have now been taken away, with landlines installed in cells instead.