By Dan Ilett, 8 March 2006 16:10
NEWS
Prisoners are to be given laptops to research evidence set out against them while they are incarcerated.
The Home Office claims the move will help prisoners and people awaiting sentencing to understand the legal process and prepare their case, especially if it is deemed 'complex'.
A Home Office spokesman told silicon.com: "Increasingly judges are insisting that prisoners involved in complex cases are given sole use of a laptop. Under the Access for Justice Scheme, they can go through the paperwork, a lot of which is available only on DVD."
The laptops have been modified, the Home Office said, to prevent prisoners accessing the internet or using them for unrelated purposes.
But it refused to say how much money it was spending on the scheme.
A report in the Daily Mirror today said at least 28 £1,000 laptops have been bought for terrorist suspects currently held in Belmarsh prison.
The Home Office would not specify who would receive the laptops but said: "These laptops are available to those with complex cases, whether or not that includes terrorist suspects."
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