Prisoner uses Facebook to boast about getting drunk in jail

AN arsonist who is serving an indefinite jail term in East Yorkshire used Facebook to boast about getting drunk while behind bars, it has been reported.

Brendan Rawsthorn, 25, used a smuggled mobile phone to brag about playing computer games and putting his "feet up" all day at HMP Wolds, near Hull.

Under the profile name Brendan Blows, he even posted photos of himself inside his cell.

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He described himself as a "down to earth jail bird" who is "doing time for the Queen! Making Money!", the Lancashire Telegraph reported.

One post read: "Made a nice chocolate cake today, I ate it all to myself! I now regret not sharing it, because I feel sick!" Another said: "All day is playing on my PlayStation and listing to music with my feet up, drinking prison home brew."

Rawsthorn, from Blackburn, was jailed in November 2006 for starting a fire at a builder's merchants in Darwen, Lancashire, which caused 200,000 damage.

A spokeswoman for Facebook said the page has since been taken down. She said: "The profile in question has been removed by our user operations team as it was in breach of our terms of use. If anyone has concerns about the way an individual is using Facebook, we strongly encourage them to report this to us for investigation by our dedicated user support team."

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G4S, which privately manages the Category C Prison, said it has launched a full investigation. A G4S spokesman said: "It is a criminal offence to have a mobile phone in prison. We are committed to stopping mobile phones from entering our prisons and have a range of security measures in place to detect contraband.

"Mobile phones have become smaller through advancing technology and therefore have become increasingly difficult to detect. If we receive intelligence that there may be a mobile phone in any of our prisons, then we take immediate action."