SOME of the nation's most evil criminals have been given Playstations to keep them happy behind bars.

Inmates at Durham Prison have been treated to the computer games consoles as a reward for good behaviour.

Bosses have spent thousands of pounds on the consoles, worth about £120 each.

A prison service spokesman said: "There are a number of Playstations in the prison.

"They have been purchased from the general purpose fund, as part of an incentive system for good behaviour.

"Inmates are allowed to use them in association time. And some prisoners who have demonstrated good order and discipline are allowed to take them back to their cells."

But Dee Warner, of support group Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: "I'm disgusted. It is just ridiculous.

"There are lots of murderers in Durham prison and the thing that makes me most angry is that so many families of murder victims end up living on the breadline because they are no longer able to work out of grief.

"Yet the people who take their relatives' lives are being treated like model citizens."