Three more months for prison phone man

A man serving more than seven years behind bars for trying to kill a“friend” in a brutal attack had another three months added to his sentence at Perth Sheriff Court.

Twenty-three-year-old Colin Dingwall was caught with a mobile phone during an early morning search of his cell at Perth Prison.

Sheriff William Wood told the accused:“You are a relatively experienced prisoner and know what the potential consequences will be of having the banned item.

“Only a custodial sentence will be appropriate.”

He ordered that the jail term be consecutive to the seven years and six months he is currently serving.

“Otherwise there will be no real punishment,”observed the sheriff.

The phone was also ordered to be forfeited. Dingwall admitted having the mobile in his possession at Perth’s Edinburgh Road prison on January 16, 2020.

Depute fiscal Matthew Kerr told the court:“He was asked if he had any items in his cell which were unauthorised and which he wished to declare. He said ‘no.’”

A search of the cell was then carried out by a prison officer and the phone was discovered.

“When asked about it, he denied it was his and refused to comment on who it belonged to.”

Solicitor Paul Ralph said his client was serving a sentence of seven years and six months and his earliest release date was 2023.

Dingwall and a co-accused pounced on Lee Fraser at his home in Friars Street, Inverness, in December 2018.