A drug dealer who was caught selling cocaine and sent to prison used his time behind bars filming a number of comedy videos about his downfall – to try to make it as a stand-up comedian.
Daniel Power, who had made appearances as a comedian at open mic nights before he was jailed for dealing, filmed a raft of comedy videos from inside Brixton prison.
Then, after he was released from prison two months ago he began uploading the films onto platforms including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to try to become a comedy influencer.
It was on the latter site that his videos began taking off and he had grown a following of some 13,000 people for his videos about his failed attempt at being a gangster under the user name ‘Professional Idiot’.
One video alone was reposted hundreds of times, liked by over 20,000 people and was viewed by tens of thousands more.
It’s thought that Power held back the material he had filmed while serving his prison term rather than posting from inside so he wouldn’t have his phone seized if discovered.
He went on to film various comic numbers including two different parodies of a famous Johnny Cash prison song.
Adapting the tune of Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, the inmate sang: ‘I only started dealing just to get them fancy cars.
‘Or to sit in lovely restaurants and smoke on those big cigars. I knew I had it coming, the feds [police] were on to me…’
Posing with a guitar and makeshift microphone, he continues: ‘But them people kept on buying, and that’s what tortures me.’
In another video, this time rapping over Daniel Bedingfield’s Gotta Get Thru This, he sings from his cell: ‘I’m stuck in jail and I’m smoking a Fusion [vape].
‘Chatting to this bird from Tooting, she’s telling me how can you be so stupid?
‘They had me on intent to supply and they proved it, now I’m in the back of the van that’s the size of a Luton.
‘Heading into a place where people are ruthless. Truth is it was wrong place at the wrong time.’
In another video, Power appears to break another law by filming inside a crown court building before his sentencing – something that might have earned him additional time behind bars for contempt if the judge had been aware.
Again riffing on Johnny Cash, he sings in the clip: ‘I can hear the bus is coming, they are unlocking the gate. I ain’t gonna see sunshine until 2028.
‘I’m on my way to Elmley Prison. Where time just drags along.’
It’s unclear if he spent time in Elmley – on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, where he is believed to come from.
In a later scene, singing into a microphone in his cell, he adds: ‘I nicked a mic from Maidstone, just to see if I could.
‘When he slams down that hammer, I hang my head and boo.’
Power, who was trying to get online attention by posting live stand-up routines before he was jailed last year, should not have been allowed access to a smartphone inside the class C prison, where they are illegal to possess.
But despite his caution at waiting until he had been freed before starting his campaign for online fame, he is still in breach of his licence after being released on parole before completing his full term.
After the Daily Mail informed the Ministry of Justice about almost a dozen videos recorded at HMP Brixton and posted by Power, his Instagram page was this week taken down – though his Facebook remains active and YouTube posts can also still be seen.
The MOJ was unable to provide guidance on the exact nature of Power’s offence or sentence.
The Power case is the latest in a long line of prisoners illegally posting content.
The Daily Mail recently told of a drill rapper jailed for 24 years over multiple shootings who become a ‘prison influencer’ with his videos.
Richard Burnett, 30, sang with a microphone and speaker inside a high-security prison along with half a dozen criminals, before sharing the clips online.
And a murderer who gloated of his crimes on Instagram in vile rap videos had his account taken down after they were revealed by the Daily Mail.
Gang member Taylor Meanley was just 17 when he fired a shotgun at 20-year-old Lewis Williams in what prosecutors called ‘a planned execution’.
He was jailed for a minimum of 27 years over the 2021 attack that year along with three others for their roles in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
But unrepentant Meanley amassed almost 10,000 followers on Instagram for his glorification of his crimes using self-made rap music videos.
Inmates are prohibited from having personal cell phones, and any unauthorised device can lead to additional jail time and fines.
HMP Brixton in South London where Power was jailed
However, inmates can use authorised prison phones – but only to call pre-approved numbers, which are subject to monitoring.
There has in recent years been a spike in the use of drones to drop drugs, phones and weapons into jails across Britain.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘It is completely unacceptable that a criminal has got a mobile phone into prison. Although these videos are old, we have taken immediate action to take them down.
‘We are investing £40 million in new security measures to clamp down on illicit items and those who break prison rules can face extra time behind bars.’
Instagram was contacted for comment.
