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| Arthur Collins given longer sentence for smuggling phone into jail | Arthur Collins given longer sentence for smuggling phone into jail |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man jailed for throwing acid across a packed nightclub has been sentenced to a further eight months for using a smuggled mobile phone while in prison. | A man jailed for throwing acid across a packed nightclub has been sentenced to a further eight months for using a smuggled mobile phone while in prison. |
| Arthur Collins, 25, hid the phone in a crutch and used it to call his reality TV star ex-girlfriend Ferne McCann from his cell at HMP Thameside. | Arthur Collins, 25, hid the phone in a crutch and used it to call his reality TV star ex-girlfriend Ferne McCann from his cell at HMP Thameside. |
| He was handed the longer sentence at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday. | He was handed the longer sentence at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday. |
| Collins injured 22 people by throwing acid across a London nightclub and was jailed for 20 years in December. | Collins injured 22 people by throwing acid across a London nightclub and was jailed for 20 years in December. |
| Later that month, he admitted one charge of possessing a prohibited item while in prison. | Later that month, he admitted one charge of possessing a prohibited item while in prison. |
| The court heard Collins hid a phone, two Sim cards and two memory sticks in the crutch while awaiting trial over the acid attack, which left 16 people with chemical burns and three people temporarily blinded. | The court heard Collins hid a phone, two Sim cards and two memory sticks in the crutch while awaiting trial over the acid attack, which left 16 people with chemical burns and three people temporarily blinded. |
| Collins, from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, claimed he had used the device to make private calls to then pregnant Ms McCann, who gave birth to their baby daughter Sunday in November. | Collins, from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, claimed he had used the device to make private calls to then pregnant Ms McCann, who gave birth to their baby daughter Sunday in November. |
| His barrister Rebecca Randall said the only reason Collins used the mobile was to privately speak with his girlfriend, family and friends. | |
| "His girlfriend at the time was heavily pregnant with his first child," she added. | |
| "That child is now two months old and occasionally visits him with its mother and his sister." | |
| Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams said: "The presence of a mobile phone or component part such as a Sim card has many implications, not only for the prison establishment, but also the wider environment. | Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams said: "The presence of a mobile phone or component part such as a Sim card has many implications, not only for the prison establishment, but also the wider environment. |
| "It provides a prisoner or prisoners with an opportunity to communicate they would otherwise not have. | "It provides a prisoner or prisoners with an opportunity to communicate they would otherwise not have. |
| "This therefore allows them to act in a way prison is supposed to prevent them from doing." | "This therefore allows them to act in a way prison is supposed to prevent them from doing." |
| The court heard the items were found on 10 September when a prison officer removed the rubber stopper from the bottom of the crutch in his private shower during a cell search. | |
| Collins was injured trying to evade police while on the run for the acid attack in Mangle E8 in Dalston. | |
| He took part in the hearing via video link from the high-security Belmarsh Prison and showed no emotion as he was sentenced. |