A PRISONER has accused radio bosses of treating detainees like children for censoring lyrics to popular songs.

Craig Bird, who is currently in Chelmsford Prison while awaiting trial on charges of murder and attempted murder, wrote to Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners.

Bird wrote to agree with another correspondent who had complained about detainees being "treated like children".

He said: "Even National Prison Radio chop out swear words and violent lyrics from the songs we hear, and what is the point of that?

"The banning of 18+ games and movies is crazy when you consider what we can see on television.

"We are grown adults, not fluffy little munchkins that have to be protected by the prison nanny.

"For god’s sake, National Prison Radio even cut a line from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – ‘Put a gun against his head, pulled the trigger now he’s dead’ – why?

"We all know the lyrics anyway; it has been played millions of times on the bloody BBC. It is time the prison system stopped this mollycoddling and treated us like adults."

National Prison Radio broadcasts music and talk shows to the country's 85,000 prisoners around-the-clock.

Andrew Wilkie, the director of radio and operations for the Prison Radio Association, said: "National Prison Radio’s audience is unique because it includes many people who have committed very serious crimes.

"Because of this, we must also consider and respect the point of view of victims of crime.

"When selecting and producing content, members of the National Prison Radio team ask themselves: what would a victim of crime feel if they heard that particular piece of content was played on National Prison Radio?

"In this context, the reason for editing that particular song should be very clear."