The revelation, which exposes how murderers and rapists in Britain's prisons are able to collect pictures of their victims' bodies, came to light following a claim by a former inmate at Belmarsh Prison, in south east London, who said killer Reece Ludlow boasted of murdering Louisa Brannan, according to the Sunday Mirror.
The Ministry of Justice has ordered a review following reports which suggested inmates were free to access pictures in legal files, which they were then able to share with other prisoners.
Ludlow was jailed for life in July last year for killing Ms Brannan by beating her over the head with a frying pan and stabbing her 25 times with two knives in 2011.
Ludlow picked up Ms Brannan at a pub and they had sex at his flat in Sutton, south London, before the brutal murder.
He then attacked her before phoning his ex-girlfriend, who he said he had not got over, to tell her what he had done.
His horrified former girlfriend could hear Ms Brannan, from Huddersfield, screaming 'I'm dying' in the background.
Ludlow had admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He was relying on two psychiatric reports from doctors, but they withdrew their support and he admitted murder moments before he was to give evidence in his defence.
According to the Sunday Mirror report, Ludlow moved to another jail in October 2011.
Ms Brannan's father David Brannan told the paper he could not believe Ludlow had the photos in his possession.
He said: 'It's hard enough coping with my daughter's murder, never mind finding out he's bragging about killing her.
'It's a disgusting thought and I can't believe it's allowed.'
Solicitor advoctate Julian Young told the Sunday Mirror criminals were given a copy of a case file, which included pictures, if they asked for it. Indecent images and video-recorded interviews with vulnerable witnesses would be among certain evidence which would not be provided.
He said: 'The case file is the client's property for the rest of his life and you cannot stop him showing photos to anyone.'
The paper reported Ludlow's solicitor as being surprised by the claims, as during the case he had refused to look at the pictures.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'The Secretary of State for Justice is extremely concerned about prisoners possessing material such as photos of victims or crime scenes as part of their legal papers.
'He has decided that restrictions must be placed on this material urgently and has instructed the Prison Service to take this forward.'
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