Prisoner Orders Murder Using Cell Phone

The BBC reports on a prisoner who ordered a murder using a smuggled cell phone.

Delphon Nicholas, 29, from Lewisham, south-east London, was convicted on Thursday of murdering Andrew Wanogho, in Brockley, on 8 April 2006.

Nicholas made dozens of calls from London's Belmarsh prison to gunman Trevor Dennie, the Old Bailey heard.

Dennie, 33, from Deptford, south-east London was also convicted of murder and jailed for life.

Both men were ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.

An interesting side note is about the gun used. It was one of those we've talked about before, one which is passed around from one gang member to another and used in several crimes. What does that do to the statistics, I wonder?

In Great Britain, as in other places I'm sure, the smuggling of contraband into prisons is epidemic. This BBC report says that 3,473 mobile phones or sim cards were discovered in prisons in England and Wales between October 2006 and September 2007.

What should be done about this? Are the guards at fault? Is it really that hard to prevent this kind of thing?

What's your opinion? Dangerous prisoners should certainly be deprived of the means of committing further crimes, I would say.