MURDERERS and sex offenders at Britain's top security prisons are to be allowed to keep games consoles in their cells as a way of relieving their boredom.

Representatives of victims of crime reacted with disbelief to news that inmates at Frankland prison, in Durham, can have Sony PlayStation 2 consoles from next month.

The scheme is part of a national programme that will allow prisoners to use games consoles in their cells.

David Thompson, the newly appointed governor of Frankland, defended the move, saying the consoles would keep prisoners occupied in their cells for hours at a time, reducing the potential for tension.

Only inmates who behave will have access to consoles and they will have to buy them with money sent by friends or family. Alternatively, inmates can pay with money earned while working in prison.

But a spokesman for the National Victims' Association condemned the plan as an insult to families struggling to deal emotionally and financially after crimes.

"Hundreds of families that have gone through murder or manslaughter would find it absolutely abhorrent that these facilities are being made available to prisoners, whether they earn the right to have their own PlayStation or not.

"Part of the reason people go to prison is to be punished for what they have done.

"Every time that punishment is reduced by the provision of some entertainment, it causes immense distress to the families of those who have been affected by their crimes."

The PlayStation project is being introduced in the country's six high-security prisons from the beginning of next month.

It was piloted in Long Lartin, Worcestershire, and Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire.

Frankland is home to 727 of the country's most dangerous criminals, including Soham killer Ian Huntley. It has been rocked by a series of high-profile security alerts during the past year.

In January, murderer Lee Nevins escaped while being treated in a Sunderland hospital.

He was on the run for six days before being arrested in Scotland. There have also been claims of race riots, and boiling oil attacks.

12:30pm Friday 16th May 2008

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