CELL PHONE CHARGER; Cons make illicit calls thanks to PlayStation.

Byline: David Taylor 

CRAFTY cons are charging banned mobile phones using the USB port of a computer games console.

Inmates across the country have discovered how to keep batteries charged up to make illicit calls from their cells.

Prisoners have developed a way of attaching phones to their PlayStation 2s using a power cable from a device such as a radio or hifi, which they are allowed to have.

A prison source said: "With a little basic electronics knowledge, it is possible to strip back a wire so that a charge from the USB port can be used to charge a mobile.

"The voltage from a USB port is only around five volts but that is enough to charge a battery."

Some inmates have been running criminal empires from behind bars using mobiles.

The source added: "It is easy to get a mobile phone into prison and keep it hidden but a charger is a different story. Mobiles only last for a couple of days before the battery runs out."

Record numbers of illegal mobile devices are being found each year in Scotland's prisons. In 2007 alone, 748 handsets were discovered - a 32 per cent rise on the previous year.

We have decided not to reveal exactly how the makeshift charging cables are modified.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison service said yesterday: "Any paraphernalia we suspect of being used in connection with mobile phones will be removed."

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MODIFIED: The PS2