CRIME DOES PAY...

Lags earn more than prison officers while on day release

- BY MATTHEW DAVIS and PHIL CARDY

A SERVING prisoner earned £42,000 a year while doing time, we can reveal.

Data we uncovered showed Britain's highest paid inmate had a net salary of £33,339, meaning their gross pay was around £42,000.

That means they were paid more than many of the staff who guard them.

A further nine more lags trousered at least £21,000.

Last night, a source said: "Rehabilitation is essential but it seems very strange someone is able to earn a salary like this while serving a sentence."

An insider said the prisoners were being held in low-security open prisons where they are typically allowed out during the day to work, as long as they are back in the prison grounds by the end of the day.

Many inmates have low-paying 50p-per-hour menial jobs they can do from inside jail, but statistics from the Ministry of Justice show some inmates are managing to pocket thousands in wages while still serving a prison sentence.

It is thought these higher-earning prisoners do a variety of jobs but one of the most lucrative is driving HGVs.