Gangster posts prison picture on Facebook with message: I’ll be out soon
Prison authorities have launched an inquiry after a self-proclaimed gang leader smuggled a camera phone into his cell and posted pictures of himself on Facebook.
Joland Giwa, 20, who claims to be the leader of a Croydon gang named Don't Say Nothing, poses in his cell and boasts: "I'll be out in two weeks."
Police are also studying a YouTube clip in which he and other gang members boast about stabbing rivals.
While YouTube chiefs have removed the film from their website, officials admitted today they were powerless to stop prisoners from using social networking sites.
The Ministry of Justice revealed that it had held talks with internet sites such as Facebook and the media watchdog Ofcom about controlling images on social networking sites.
But a spokesman said: "This form of media is totally unregulated and we have no power to remove a social networking profile from the internet."
The ministry said that in theory prisoners did not have access to mobile phones or the internet, and were not allowed to personally contribute to websites.
A spokesman said electronic scanners that detect mobile phones hidden inside people's bodies were being introduced in jails. Prisons were also being equipped with electronic scanners that can detect mobile phone signals.
Giwa, who calls himself DSN Dexter, is serving a sentence for robbery. He updated his site with photos showing a "cushy" life inside — complete with his own TV, stereo and kettle.
In one post on Facebook on 25 March, the criminal states "DSN Dexter is out real soon", boasting that he will be "touching road real soon" — meaning he will be out on the streets.
He also joined a social networking group called RIP Oliver Dropz King, which pays tribute to 19-year-old Croydon teen Oliver Kingonzila who was stabbed to death last September.
Just after his last Facebook update other gang members posted an old clip of Giwa and other members of his gang — known for their street robberies and stabbings — on YouTube, boasting about how they would "stab up" members of rival gangs.
The clip, which has since been removed from the video-sharing site, shows six youths warning off rivals, with Giwa proclaiming: "Croydon is our town."
One of Giwa's 72 Facebook friends, who did not want to be named, commented on his physical appearance, saying: "Dexter was big before he went in, but he's pumped himself up inside. And now he's getting out. We'll have our general back."
Croydon police said the images posted on YouTube and Facebook were a "disturbing reminder" of Giwa's threat. A spokesman for HMP Rochester said it would investigate the case and would confiscate Giwa's mobile phone.
