Jail abandons mobile-block trial as hospital phones affected
THE Prison Service stopped tests on mobile-phone-blocking technology at the country's top-security jail after it began interfering with other phones.
The "cutting-edge" technology is being installed at Portlaoise jail but the trial there has been put on hold because of the need to refine the software.
Prison Service officials admitted yesterday that tests were stopped when it was discovered that the technology was blocking coverage on mobile phones in use "in the immediate vicinity" of the prison.
It is understood the affected areas included the local hospital across the road from the maximum security prison.
Officials said the problem had been rectified within two hours of being brought to their attention but the installation of the blocking system was currently inactive, pending further refinement of software, "which is unique and site-specific".
Trials of three different types of mobile-phone-blocking systems are being carried out at Mountjoy and Limerick prisons and in the Portlaoise/Midlands jail complex.
Officials said the systems in Mountjoy, Limerick and the Midlands jail were still live and working with varying degrees of success. But they said no decision had been made for or against one mobile-phone-blocking provider.
The signal-blocking equipment was installed in the Midlands early last year on a trial basis and was due to be expanded to the rest of the prisons that had been targeted as suitable for the technology.
Problematic
However, its introduction has been more problematic than initially expected because the scheme is without precedent.
The prison authorities decided to enforce an all-out ban on mobile phone usage in the jails after security chiefs expressed concerns in 2007 that crime bosses were directing their operations from behind bars.
Legislation enacted that summer introduced a criminal offence for a prisoner, without the permission of the governor, to possess or use a mobile phone and inmates who are caught face being sentenced to a further five years' imprisonment and a fine of €10,000.
On the day the new law was being brought in, an armed robber, John Daly, using a mobile phone from his cell in Portlaoise jail, contacted the RTE 'Liveline' programme and this sparked a huge investigation and a security review.
A subsequent two-day search uncovered phones, SIM cards, chargers, batteries, drugs, syringes, homemade alcohol, plasma TV sets, a DVD player and two budgies.
The phone-blocking scheme is one of a series of measures brought in to stop the smuggling of contraband into prisons.
A specially trained operational support unit was set up to gather intelligence on illicit material being hidden inside jails while a drug detection dog service, involving 30 handling teams, also became active.
All staff members and visitors must leave their mobile phones at the entrance before passing through airport-style security scanning.
- Tom Brady Security Editor
Irish Independent
