“This must have been an important phone call – because it’s going to cost you more time in jail,” Magistrate Greg Grogin said.

Justin Neil Canterbury, 23, was just three days shy of release, when he appeared by audio-visual link in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to possessing the phone.

Police said at 5.20pm on August 4 Corrective Service officers were locking inmates in their cells in X-Wing when they approached cell 90, which housed Canterbury.

Upon entering the cell, officers saw Canterbury talking on a black Samsung mobile phone. 

He handed the phone over to officers and said he had borrowed it from another inmate. He was transferred to another area of the jail.

On August 17, police attended Goulburn Jail and spoke with Canterbury. He was charged.

Canterbury’s solicitor said his client was serving a prison sentence for aggravated robbery and his earliest release date had been October 22, 2016.

But Magistrate Grogin said inmates had to stop using mobile phones in jail.

“A message must be sent to other inmates that having a mobile phone in jail is not acceptable,” Mr Grogin said.

“Your release date was to be in three days’ time. There is no other appropriate sentence than a term of imprisonment.”

Magistrate Grogin sentenced Canterbury to an nine months’ in Goulburn Jail, starting on October 19 – with a non-parole period of six months.