Prisoner loses Supreme Court fight over illicit smoking in jails

A prisoner who is concerned about exposure to "second-hand" smoke and wants illicit lighting up in jails to be a criminal offence has lost a legal battle at the UK's highest court.

Paul Black, who suffers from a range of serious health problems, took his case to the Supreme Court in a bid to win what he says is the same level of protection from the risks posed by passive smoking as "non-smokers living in the wider community".

Five justices, who considered his case against the Government in October, following his defeat last year at the Court of Appeal, ruled against him on Tuesday.

Black, an inmate at HMP Wymott in Lancashire, failed in a challenge against the decision of the appeal judges that a legal ban on smoking in public places did not apply in public sector prisons.