A VIOLENT criminal has had his jail term extended after he was caught trying to smuggle an internet dongle into prison.

Brian Gunningham was being booked into Exeter prison in January this year when an officer found the device hidden in his shoe. 

He had just been moved from Bristol Prison because he was due in Plymouth Crown Court later that week for a robbery and an affray for which he received an eight year sentence.

He claimed the dongle was intended for use in a PS3 PlayStation but it could also have been linked to a mobile phone to access the internet.

Gunningham, aged 36, of St Leo Place, Plymouth, denied conveying a contraband article into prison but was found guilty by Exeter Magistrates last month.

His case was transferred to Exeter Crown Court for sentence where Recorder Mr Timothy Kenefick ordered him to serve an extra month.

He told him: ‘The one aggravating feature is that you attempted to smuggle the dongle into a prison in a shoe.’

Mr Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, said the dongle was found by a prison officer in the reception area of Exeter Prison on January 25.

It was a USB Vodafone wi-fi dongle which was inserted in a blue Nike trainer. Gunningham told staff he had it to use in a PS3 PlayStation but later said it was smuggled in by his half brother who was transferred at the same time.

The two men were co-defendants in a robbery in Plymouth for which they were both jailed three days later.

Miss Felicity Payne, defending, said the offence was less serious than smuggling in a phone because the dongle was going to be used for playing games rather than to communicate from prison.

He is now doing well at Channings Wood Prison near Newton Abbot where he has enhanced status and is employed in the wood shop.

Gunningham and his 31-year-old half brother Clint Carthy were jailed for seven and five years respectively for a robbery in an alley behind Western Approach which left the victim with serious head injuries.

They knocked him to the ground where they kicked or stamped him in the head, causing a bleed on the brain. They searched his pockets and stole his phone.

Gunningham got another 12 months for an affray in which he and a friend threatened people with a hammer.