A CONVICT caught hiding a prohibited mobile phone has been jailed again just a week after he should have been released from prison.

Dale Manuell was jailed for eight months for having a mobile phone in Bullingdon Prison when he appeared via video link at Oxford Crown Court.

He was serving a three-year jail term for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and was due to be released from prison one week before Friday's hearing.

Prosecutor Ian Hope told the court Manuell was being moved to a segregation unit at the prison when staff discovered the mobile phone on him on April 22.

He said prison officers found 24 contacts saved to the phone, including Manuell's family and friends but also unknown numbers.

The prosecutor said Manuell, of Birch Road, Garsington, would have been released from prison if he had not been caught with the phone.

Mr Hope said: "He clearly had not anticipated being moved [to the unit] or searched."

Defence barrister Michael Gould pleaded with Recorder Milliken-Smith to hand the convict a suspended sentence, claiming Manuell wished for a chance to prove he could "adapt back to society".

He said Manuell was looking after the phone for a fellow prisoner and in return was allowed to contact his family, including his "unwell" grandmother, who suffers with condition lymphedema and was unsure how long she would live for.

Manuell – who had previous convictions including battery, failing to comply with community orders and possession of a Class A drug – must pay a victim surcharge and Recorder Mark Milliken-Smith QC also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the phone.