A PRISONER was caught with an illicit sim card in his mobile phone.

Craig Graham appeared from custody at Glasgow Sheriff Court last week.

His lawyer explained that the 29-year-old was previously sentenced for the sim card matter and 90 hours of unpaid work was imposed, however, this order was unable to be completed due to Graham now being on remand.

Prosecutor Darren Harty said: “At 4.15pm on September 23, 2020, prison officers in HMP Addiewell attended at the accused’s cell, which was solely occupied by the accused.

“They asked to see the accused’s mobile phone. They opened the casing and could see the security seal was broken with the word ‘void’ visible.

“A prison-issued sim card had been replaced with an EE sim card. He stated, ‘it’s not mine’.”

It was revealed that due to Covid-19 preventing visits, prisoners were issued with phones and sim cards.

Graham’s lawyer said: “He accepts full responsibility for having the sim card he should not have had.

READ MORE: Twin sisters kicked out of Glasgow TRNSMT appear in court after incident with cops

“He obtained it from someone else to make phone calls with his son. The prison-issued sim cards are restricted to timeframes within which you can make calls.

“He advises me that these timeframes matched up with the time his son would be in school.

“He had the sim card for a short period of time. He suffers from mental health difficulties and PTSD. He advises me his son is his priority and he wants to sort himself out.”

Sheriff Jonathan Guy told Graham: “You are unable to comply with the order. I will revoke it and sentence you for this offence.

“The offence committed is a serious one. Your explanation was to phone your son. The bottom line is, having these types of sim cards in prison is something that can cause serious harm.

“They can allow criminals to use them for illicit purposes. I will sentence you to a period in prison, as there’s no other option.”

Graham, of Wellhouse in Glasgow’s East End, was sentenced to 81 days behind bars.