Prisons seizing record numbers of mobile phones

ALMOST three years since the crackdown on mobile phones in prisons began, record numbers are being seized.

Speaking at a Garda conference in early April 2007, former Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the prison service had begun cracking down on mobile use and that the first mobile phone blocking devices had been installed in the Midlands Prison.

“I’ve already commenced within the prison system the installation of blocking devices to prevent all mobile phones from being used,” he told delegates at the time.