SHAMELESS inmates used smuggled phones to shoot a rap video behind bars with prison officers nowhere to be seen.
Lags at the HMP Forest Bank in Salford, Manchester, shot the footage under the noses of guards before uploading it to YouTube.
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The music video shows two prisoners at the privately-run prison mouthing lyrics in their cells and on the wing.
And the two-minute clip, featuring rappers called L1 Manny and Mazza L20, has racked up 178,000 views on YouTube.
The video’s opening credits state the video was “filmed by all the mandem” and it starts with a message: “This music video was filmed on the wings”.
It includes wide shots of prisoners associating on a wing outside their cells and also a screenshot of a story published in the MEN last January about a prison officer who brought paper laced with the street drug Spice into the jail.
One of the rappers is then seen strolling along a corridor outside the cells mouthing the lyrics to the song and making one of many gun signs.
While in another scene, inmates can be seen walking around the prison yard.
One of the lyrics states: “Do you know what it’s like when you lose hope, seven years straight and you still gotta do sosh.”
At the end of the video, viewers are directed to a number of Instagram accounts including one for Manny.
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This includes a snap which appears to show him making another gun sign beside a cell door, surrounded by other inmates.
It is the latest in a string of incidents at the prison, which is run operated by Sodexo on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
Sodexo’s contract with HMP Forest Bank runs until 2025.
Earlier this week it emerged an inmate was taken to hospital following a “ten-man-brawl”.
On January 4, an inmate died at the prison, the latest in a series of deaths there.
It comes after another inmate also died at the prison in June last year.
Other fatalities include Michael McDonagh, 27, who was found unresponsive in his cell in February 2019 and Raymond Lucy, 63, who was found dead in his cell in July the same year.
In December firefighters were called to put out a fire at the prison.
In October, vandals damaged three cars belonging to staff, which followed a similar wrecking spree in July when another three cars were vandalised.
In May, the prisons’ watchdog slammed HMP Forest Bank after noting it was “unable to fulfil its role successfully”.
Their report also highlighted “an ongoing problem with mice” at the prison.
The damning report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales detailed “cramped and overcrowded cells” in the category B jail.
The watchdog’s unannounced visit in February found the jail had 1,354 prisoners, nearly 300 above its baseline capacity.
Asked about the rap video, a spokesperson for HMP Forest Bank said: “We can confirm that this video was filmed several months ago.
“The use of mobile phones in any prison is illegal, and we constantly review our activity to tackle the issue
“Where individual prisoners are identified, action is taken.”
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