Prisoner had phone in cell ‘to keep tabs on sick mum’
A PRISONER who was detained indefinitely for public protection after threatening to shoot a woman during a robbery was found with a mobile phone and drugs in a Derbyshire open jail.
Derby Crown Court heard how Ricky Barrett was illegally in possession of the iphone as he used it to contact his mother who was suffering with Covid.
The 32-year-old was caught using it by an officer during a roll-call at HMP Sudbury. Phones are banned among prisoners.
Handing him an additional four months to the sentence he is already serving, Judge Nirmal Shant QC, Honorary Recorder of Derby, said: “I take the view that cannabis is rife in prisons and it is important the courts send a message that it is not acceptable to have drugs in prison.
“In relation to the mobile phone, this is a situation where in prison one of the basics to keeping authority is to make sure people do not have them.
“I am aware that on October 5, 2010, you were handed an indeterminate sentence which you are currently serving. But it is plain that this (the new offences) pass the custodial threshold.”
On October 5, 2010, Barrett, then of Wolverhampton, was handed the sentence after he beat up a man and woman and stole their hire car after they stopped outside a shop on the way home from a night out.
Then 22, he demanded the keys and launched a vicious attack on the man, kicking and punching him to the ground.
Barrett then threatened to shoot the woman as she tried to intervene. Caroline Sellars, prosecuting the new offences, said an officer carrying out a role call at HMP Sudbury on December 5, last year, saw that the defendant had a mobile phone.
She said his cell was searched and a small amount of cannabis – around £5 in value – was uncovered, as well as a charger for the iphone.
Barrett pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited item inside prison and possessing cannabis in prison.
Justin Ablott, mitigating, said: “Mr Barrett’s mother contracted Covid and was very poorly indeed.
“His explanation for having the phone, which he fully acknowledges he should not have had in his possession, was to contact his mum and other family members to make sure she was OK,” he added.
It is plan that these new offences pass the custodial threshold.
Judge Nirmal Shant