Two convicted criminals have had their sentences extended after mobile phones were found in their prison cell.
Tesfa Bernard-Wheeler was due for release after serving 12 months for a violent disorder outside a Walsall nightclub in December 2019, but will now serve a further six months after an Alcatel Smart phone was found in a container and an iPhone was also found in the toilet of the cell he shared with 26-year-old Hayden Mills in HMP Birmingham.
Mills, from Castle Vale, is serving five years and seven months for robbery, but he also will have six months added to his sentence.
Crime gang member Bernard-Wheeler, aged 24 and from Hockley, had also been one of 18 men suspected of involvement in gun and drug offences who were served with court injunctions banning them from associating with other gang members or from entering certain areas of Birmingham in July 2017 prior to his conviction.
Detective Constable Celia Wood works inside HMP Birmingham. She said: “These convictions make it clear that we will not tolerate abuse of the justice system. Criminals can expect to be put back before the courts if they breach the rules and equally anyone found passing contraband to inmates will also be prosecuted.”
Bernard-Wheeler and Mills were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (22 Oct).