A prisoner serving a long sentence for a sadistic crime was caught using a mobile phone in his cell, a court heard.

Aaron Rickets was jailed for just under eight years in April last year for torturing a man who was made to strip naked before having boiling water poured over him as punishment for stealing drugs.

Two months later, on June 28, a prison officer saw the 21-year-old father, of Bligh Way, Strood, with the phone at HMP Elmley on Sheppey.

Prosecutor Alexia Zimbler said Rickets tried to hide it as they are banned in prisons because they can be used to commit other crimes.

When asked to hand it over, he said: “Miss, I can’t believe this has happened. I have been out of trouble for five months now. I was only using it because my partner is abroad and I want to talk to my children.”

Miss Zimbler said Rickets at first agreed to be interviewed by police but then refused.

As well as mobile phones being used in prison for crime, she said, it could also lead to bullying and intimidation of more vulnerable inmates.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Rickets had become an “enhanced prisoner” at the jail and completed drugs and victim awareness courses. He had also applied for a university course in business studies.

Recorder Matthew Nicklin QC told him: “You are a prisoner who can be trusted. Nevertheless, possession of a mobile phone in prison is a serious matter.”

Phones in jail were described as “much prized” and the Appeal Court stated there should be severe punishment for those caught with them.

Rickets was sentenced to a further six months, which will be consecutive to the seven years and eight months he is serving for causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

He was jailed with Alando McNeish, of Grafton Avenue, Rochester, for the attack on Kevin Ward at his Rochester home. McNeish, 22, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years.

The prosecutor described the attack, which caused second-degree burns and scarring, as “sadistic and gratuitous torturing”.

Judge Julian Smith said it lived in the memory “as a deliberate and calculated piece of cruelty and torture which causes significant harm”.