Inmates running TikTok from South Yorkshire prison HMP Lindholme get account taken down
and live on Freeview channel 276
Named ‘tiktockrizzy,’ the account purported to give viewers a taste of life at HMP Lindholme, which is based in Hatfield in Doncaster.
It is believed to have been run by a group of criminals from Bradford, who are currently serving sentences at the prison.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdA Prison Service spokesperson confirmed the account, which had racked up a following of more than 2,300 users, has been removed.
They said: “We work closely with TikTok to remove content as quickly as possible and this account has already been taken down.
“Anyone found in possession of a phone will face extra time behind bars.”
The spokesperson added that ‘incidents of misuse are thoroughly investigated’ by the Prison Service, and an investment of £100million in security is helping them to ‘stop more contraband getting into prisons than ever before’.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe law states that possession, ‘without authorisation, of a device capable of transmitting or receiving images, sounds or information by electronic communications (including a mobile telephone) inside a prison’ is an offence.
In 2018, the Ministry of Justice announced that more inmates would be given access to in-cell mobile phones, through which prisoners can make recorded calls to a small amount of pre-approved numbers, in a bid to reduce the amount of phones that are illegally smuggled into prisons.
The in-cell phones do not have access to the internet, but there are still a number of TikTok accounts, including PrisonFreestylesHMP, which use mobile phone footage and claim to be run from prisons across the country.