Nearly 2,000 Scottish Government funded mobile phones have been confiscated from inmates during the covid pandemic, according to the latest data.
So-called 'unhackable' devices were given to around 7,600 prisoners during the coronavirus lockdown at cost of around £2.7 million.
However, since they were introduced many have been hacked and are now being used for drug deals and other criminal activities.Calls are now being made for them to be scrapped after 1,899 phones were seized by authorities in Scots prisons since May 2020 due to rule breaches.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that Barlinnie in Glasgow had the most confiscated with 342, while HMP Edinburgh had 262 followed by HMP Shotts which had 196.