Bid to bar prisoners' cellphones

Scott Watson

New technology has convinced Telecom and Vodafone to work to stamp out prison cellphone use, the Government says.

Corrections Minister Paul Swain yesterday welcomed the companies' change of heart, saying inmates' access to cellphones was high on the agenda at a recent Australasian Corrections conference he attended.

An Australian report discussed there found cellphones were being used to organise escapes from maximum security, and criminal activity from cells.

While New Zealand has not yet been plagued by major incidents, a cellphone was believed to have been used by prison escaper Arthur Taylor this year.

Double killer Scott Watson also hit the headlines after sending flirtatious text messages and indecent photos of himself from his cell.

The Government wanted to test jamming technology in Rimutaka Prison in 2003 but was unable to get support from the telecommunications companies, which believed it could cause interference for cellphone users outside the prison.

Mr Swain said the Australian report had identified new technologies to detect cellphones, monitor calls and interfere with them over a smaller area than had previously been possible.

He had asked the companies to reconsider the issue and they had agreed.

"The department and the companies have agreed to establish a working party to identify and implement possible solutions."

About 800 cellphones have been confiscated in prisons over the past three years.