A prisoner serving a life sentence in HMP Isle of Wight appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court earlier this week (Tuesday) after officers caught him hanging out his cell window using a mobile device.
Arslan Khan, 33, pleaded guilty to possessing a device capable of transmitting or receiving images, sounds or information by electronic communications, namely a mobile phone without authority.
On 12th November last year, a signal was picked up by officers using a mobile phone signal detector device in the corridor, outside Khan’s cell. It was then that officers entered Khan’s cell to find him using a mobile phone outside of his window.
The court heard that the phone was stored in a pully-system created by prisoners using a black bag and dental floss, allowing multiple prisoners to freely and discreetly share the device.
Jim Osbourne, defending, told the court, on Khan’s behalf, that he regretted having the phone and that he was in a vulnerable position due to a severe brain injury leading to a bleed. The bleed left Khan relying on a Zimmer frame for mobility and feeling particularly vulnerable in and around the prison.
The defendant was handed an 8-month custodial sentence that will run at the end of his life sentence, as well as £187 costs payable after his release.
