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Facebook has removed 30 profile pages used by prison inmates to taunt their victims, says British Justice Secretary Jack Straw – reports The Times of London.
Prisoners are only meant to have access to the internet for educational purposes and under close supervision.
But Straw told Sky News that prisoners were able to make contact with victims and their families by using mobile phones smuggled into prison.
"This is horrible, profoundly disturbing to the bereaved victims, and it is offensive to public morality and we must stop it," he said.
Straw was speaking after he met with the families of murdered teenager Jimmy Mizen and schoolboy Damilola Taylor to discuss access that offenders have to Facebook.
He added that action would be taken to prevent such webpage’s going online in the first place.
The move followed reports of criminals threatening and taunting people from inside prison using the jail’s internet access.
Last month it emerged that one of Britain’s most dangerous gangsters, Colin Gunn, used Facebook to threaten and intimidate his enemies from inside a maximum security prison.
In one posting, Gunn, 42, said, “I will be home one day and I can’t wait to look into certain people’s eyes and see the fear of me being there,” The Sunday Times reported.
Earlier in January British actress Brooke Kinsella hit out at one of the men who killed her brother Ben after he taunted her family from jail.
Jade Braithwaite, who was serving a life prison sentence for stabbing Mr. Kinsella, taunted the victim’s family by posting a photo on Facebook where he wore a T-shirt with the slogan "Free Jade Braithwaite."
It was believed he used a Blackberry mobile phone to set up his page on the social networking site from behind bars at the Aylesbury Young Offenders Institute in Buckinghamshire, The Sun reported.
Another criminal, Craig “Lazie” Lynch, 28, taunted British authorities using Facebook while on the run from prison, boasting of his life outside jail.
Lynch’s profile picture showed him raising his middle finger to the camera.
He posted messages such as, "Mmm i just had a 12lb venison steak, roasted veg and chips, bangin' meal. I feel stuffed."
The fugitive was eventually recaptured in Kent, southern England on January 13, four months after he escaped prison.
