Murderer Zion Covey (left) and victim Ben Neilson

by James Scott

Facebook has removed the profile of a murderer jailed for life after the Prison Service intervened at the request of his victim's distraught mother.

Barbara Neilson was "appalled" that one of her son’s killers has been using the social networking site in prison.

Zion Covey, of Lynsted Close, Stanhope, had even used the social networking site to play online poker.

After we reported the story this morning, it has emerged Facebook has now taken down the page - which breached Prison Service rules.

Covey and Gareth Powell, of Bensted, South Ashford, were jailed for life for the murder of 21-year-old university student Ben Neilson in November 2009.

The pair, branded “drunken, violent thugs” by police, had turned on the former Norton Knatchbull pupil outside the Fountain kebab shop in Ashford town centre during a night out on April 20.

Ben was kicked and punched until he was left with catastrophic brain injuries and died in hospital a week later.

Heartbroken mother Barbara Neilson, pictured left, discovered murderer Covey, who turned 24 last month, has been updating a profile on Facebook to communicate with friends and family.

“I’m appalled,” she said. “I’m absolutely appalled. I just can’t believe this has happened.

“He’s supposed to be serving a life sentence for murder. It’s totally inappropriate. What’s he actually being deprived of apart from being able to go down the pub?

“He’s allowed to carry on with his life as normal and I’m left with nothing.”

Former Christchurch High School pupil Covey, who will serve a minimum of 13 years in prison, has apparently had a profile on the website since the start of January.

He has been playing online poker, received birthday messages posted by friends and family, although some have questioned how he has been able to use the site.

Prisoners are allowed to contact people using letters and phone calls, but the use of mobile phones and internet is banned.

They are also not allowed to use or update any social networking website such as Facebook or Twitter while in prison, either personally or by asking someone to do it on their behalf.

It is still unclear as to whether Covey has been updating the site himself or if someone has been doing it for him.

Zion Covey's Facebook profile, before it was taken down

Mrs Neilson demanded a Prison Service investigation.

She added: “How can someone convicted of murdering my son Ben have access to a Facebook account while serving a life sentence?

“I want it to stop. I want to find out how he got access to it and I want someone to put their hands up.

“Are the prisons running a holiday camp? What next... a bar where they can get drunk and kill someone’s son or daughter? This prison system isn’t working.”

The Prison Service said they would investigate the matter internally and had asked Facebook for the account to be removed.

A spokesman said: “Prisoners have no access to the internet and are barred from updating Facebook while serving their sentence, or asking others to do so from outside prison. If they do, their accounts will be terminated.

“It is a criminal offence to have a mobile phone in prison and we work hard to keep them out. Any prisoner found in possession of one will be dealt with appropriately.”

Facebook spokesman Sally Aldous said: “We have a process in place with the Ministry of Justice and they need to let us know that someone is in prison and does not have access to the internet. That way we then know the account is being accessed by someone other than the account holder, which is against our rules, so we can take appropriate action.”

What do you think? Join the debate below.

The Ministry of Justice has been cracking down on inmates using Facebook since 2009.

More than 350 prisoners have been discovered using the website in the past two years.

The crackdown began after the then Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, revealed 30 Facebook pages had been taken down after prisoners taunted their victims.

He described the situation as “horrible, profoundly disturbing and deeply offensive to public morality”.

Mr Straw added that the Prison Service would take a harder line to stop mobile phones being smuggled into prisons.

He revealed visitors with “no respect for their own bodies” had transported phones internally to get them to inmates. Once inside, mobile phones can be used to co-ordinate criminal activity on the outside.

To combat this, visitors and prisoners are being made to sit on Boss – body orifice security scanner – chairs, which beep if they detect a mobile phone or a sim card inside someone’s body.