'Unhackable' mobile phones given to every Scottish inmates being used to commit ...

Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire after her Scottish Government handed out thousands of 'unhackable' mobile phones to prisoners, only for some be used in drug deals.

The 'tamper proof' phones were handed out to 7,600 inmates - at the cost of £3million - as part of a project to allow prisoners to keep in touch with family members during the Covid lockdowns.

But more than 720 phones have since been hacked by inmates who have inserted illegal SIM cards used for drug deals and other crimes, according to ITV.

One prison officer told the broadcaster inmates had started trying to interfere with the tamper-proofing 'within hours'. 

Video published by ITV also appeared to show a man throwing drugs over the wall of Barlinnie - Scotland's second largest prison.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today told the broadcaster she was not aware of the issue.

However she promised that Government officials in Scotland - which has the highest drug death rate in Europe - would investigate. 

'We created a different way for prisoners to have contact with their families, in some cases with their children,' she said.

'If you want to give me evidence of phones been tampered with, and I will absolutely look at that.'

But tonight the SNP leader faced fierce criticism tonight over the claims, with one Twitter user describing it as an 'extraordinary revelation'. 

One Twitter user, Craig Edward, posted: 'There must be an urgent investigation into this mess. Did the SNP do a risk assessment prior to introducing this policy? Who is apologising for this?' 

Another wrote: 'To the surprise of absolutely no-one the SNP have another failure on their hands.'

One Twitter user added: 'Another embarrassment for the SNP.'

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