Jailed again: Prisoner caught with mobile phone and two SIM cards at Stoke Heath

Prison officers at the jail saw Thomas Sidwell and another inmate involved in an "exchange", Telford Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Adam Warner, prosecuting, said 31-year-old Sidwell put a small package in his mouth.

When he spat it out, prison officers noticed that the package contained two SIM cards used in mobile phones.

He said Sidwell was asked if he had anything else and was given a body search.

He admitted having a mobile phone, which was recovered from him wrapped in cling film.

Mr Warner explained to magistrates the seriousness of having mobile phones in prison, adding: "The authorities have to limit access to phones as much as they can."

Sidwell, of Redfern Close, Solihull, admitted possessing the prohibited items at the prison, near Market Drayton, on June 28 last year.

Mr Israr Habib, for Sidwell, said the offence took place while he was serving a custodial sentence.

He said while Sidwell was in jail his father had committed suicide and he had made an application to the prison to be allowed compassionate leave to see his family, but the request was denied.

Mr Habib said: "His mother became suicidal.

"During this period Sidwell wanted to make contact. This is the reason he got a mobile phone."

He said Sidwell had since regretted the situation and had been released from prison.

Mr Habib said: "He's suffering from depression due to this incident taking place and his mother is suicidal to this day."

He told the court that Sidwell lived with his mother who he said self-harms regularly.

But magistrates handed him a four-month prison sentence.

They said they had reduced the term because of his guilty plea.

Last May, it emerged there were 109 incidents where a prisoner was caught at Stoke Heath jail with a phone, or parts of a phone, in the year prior.

The figure for 2015/16 represented a trebling of the figure for 2013/14.

The figures were released following a Freedom of Information request by the Shropshire Star to the Ministry of Justice.

It is a criminal offence for an inmate to be in possession of a mobile phone.

Offenders can be handed a two-year jail term on top of their sentence if they are ever caught in possession.