Prisoners caught with mobile phones in jail are being given extra sentences in a crackdown.
Since January 16 inmates at Exeter prison have appeared in court charged with possessing mobile phones.
This week two inmates have been given six-month jail sentences for the offences by Exeter magistrates.
Others inmates have faced even stiffer sentences when they have appeared before judges at the city’s Crown Court.
Prosecutor Lyndsey Baker told Exeter magistrates that the courts are ‘taking a very dim view’ of these offences and handing out ‘deterrent sentences’.
She said jail terms for possessing mobile phones in jails are ranging from six to 12 months consecutive to the jail terms the inmates are already serving behind bars.
This week Leon Brinton, 23, now in Channings Wood jail at Denbury, Devon, received six months for having a mobile phone, charger and SIM card in Exeter jail in February.
And Ahmed Abdalla, 20, was also given an extra 26-week jail sentence for having a phone in Exeter jail in March.
Phones are thrown over the perimeter walls at Exeter, and drones carrying illicit goods are also causing problems for staff.
Previously the prison’s governor Pete Elbourn said this was an ‘ongoing major issue’ for them.
He said phones are used to continue criminality, contact vulnerable victims of ongoing cases as well as contacting families.
He said ‘throw overs’ can also contain ‘weapons and drugs’.