Inmates jailed over phone stashed in prison fan

Prison officers found a phone in a cell at HMP Holme House

Two inmates who lied about having a mobile phone in prison have been jailed for longer.

The device was found hidden in the base of a desk fan in the cell of Joseph Millward at HMP Holme House, in Stockton, after a prison officer heard it ringing, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When being led away for questioning, Millward, 31, shouted to fellow inmate Stephen McCabe, 38, that he would give him £1,000 if he said the fan was his, which McCabe then did, the court heard.

Both admitted intending to pervert the course of justice, with Millward also pleading guilty to possession of a mobile phone in prison.

Millward was jailed for 10 months and McCabe for four months.

Millward, a semi-professional boxer, had been jailed for five years and two months for a shooting in South Tyneside in 2021, prosecutor Anthony Pettengell said.

On the evening of 18 June 2023, a prison officer heard the sound of a mobile phone ringing from inside Millward's cell, the court heard.

His cell was searched, with a small black mobile phone and charger found hidden in a fan, Mr Pettengell said.

He claimed he had borrowed it from another inmate and did not know the phone was there, then shouted at McCabe to admit the fan was his.

'Phones are a menace'

A review of CCTV showed Millward carrying the fan in with him when he arrived at the prison in May 2022, the court heard.

Several numbers linked to Millward's family were found saved on the phone, along with one related to McCabe, the court heard.

McCabe, who was in prison for offences including wounding, burglary and robbery, told officers he had been given the fan by an inmate who had since been released, although he refused to give a name.

He claimed he found the phone but it did not have a sim card, so he returned it and did not tell Millward of the device's existence when he lent him the fan.

In mitigation for Millward, Caroline Goodwin KC said he had been due to be released on licence on 30 September this year but had been held in prison with reduced privileges because of the phone.

The court heard McCabe was due to be released on 26 February next year.

Judge Richard Clews said mobile phones in prison were a "menace" and caused a "difficulty in keeping order", adding they were a currency with "much enhanced value" inside.