AN inmate at Bathurst Correctional Centre will remain in custody until October after being caught with a mobile phone in the toilet of his cell during a search.
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Shane Fenton, 41, of no fixed place of abode in Campbelltown, but currently in custody at Bathurst Correctional Centre, appeared from custody via audio-visual link-up before magistrate Cate Follent in Bathurst Local Court.
He had been charged by police for possessing or using a mobile phone in a place of detention.
The court heard Fenton was due for release on June 17, 2019, however, officers from Corrections NSW located the phone during a random search at Bathurst Correctional Centre at around noon on March 21.
Fenton was in his cell in the B-wing of the jail when correctional officers entered the cell as part of the search, according to the police facts presented to the court.
As officers entered the cell, Fenton was at the rear of the room with his arm inside the toilet bowl, they said.
As Fenton was removed from the cell by correctional staff, they found a black mobile phone inside the toilet.
While being recorded, Fenton was cautioned by correctional officers.
They asked Fenton who owned the phone, and he said it was his, according to the police facts.
Officers seized the phone and put it in a black plastic bag to be collected by police.
On March 26, police attended Bathurst Correctional Centre and offered Fenton the chance to be interviewed, but he refused.
He was subsequently charged by police over the incident.
Fenton was convicted and sentenced to a term of four months imprisonment to date from June 3, 2019 and expire on October 21, 2019.
