Bullingdon prisoner fought with guard in row over mobile phone

John Bisson, who is serving a sentence at HMP Bulling near Bicester for GBH, appeared via videolink at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 33-year old had already admitted having a mobile phone while in prison without lawful authority.

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At his sentencing hearing prosecutor Julian Lynch said that the phone was first discovered after prison officers carried out a random cell search on June 14 last year.

Bisson was seen to ‘act suspiciously’, he told the court, touching the back of his trousers, and so he was challenged by officers.

Aerial view of HMP Bullingdon.

A struggle erupted and during the short-lived resistance a black mobile fell out of Bisson’s trousers, wrapped in a latex glove.

Rumbled, Bisson went on to admit having the phone before magistrates, who ordered that he be sentenced before a crown court judge.

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At the court it was revealed that Bisson, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for grievous bodily harm, has 28 previous convictions for 63 offences.

Prosecutors also said that the make and model of the mobile phone that was discovered 'had not been determined'.

In mitigation at Tuesday’s sentencing, Bisson’s defence barrister Graham Bennet said that his client had only recently suffered a family bereavement and had been using the phone to contact his family and partner.

Sentencing, Judge Zoe Smith said that for the offence Bisson had to serve more time in jail which would be added to his current sentence.

She added that the struggle inside his cell ‘had to be marked’ and was an ‘aggravating factor’ in determining the final sentence for Bisson.

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He was jailed for six months to run consecutive to his current term of imprisonment, and he must pay a victim surcharge.