Man who threatened to kill a garda caught with phone in prison cell

A criminal serving sentences for violent disorder and for threatening to kill a garda has been given an extra two months’ jail for having a phone hidden in a prison cell.

When told Leroy Dumberell had already been transferred from Mountjoy to Cork Prison as a punishment, Judge Alan Mitchell said: “Some people would like to move to Cork, but Dubs tend not to.”

Dumbrell, aged 30, from Emmett Rd, Inchicore, Dublin, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a mobile phone at his single-occupancy cell, in Mountjoy Prison, on June 6 last.

It was the second time during his current, seven-year sentence that he was caught possessing a contraband mobile phone.

Judge Mitchell heard that Dumbrell had already been subject to internal disciplinary proceedings; he was placed in solitary confinement for 40 days and he was moved to Cork Prison.

Dublin District Court heard that prison officers carried out a planned search of Dumbrell’s cell and found a small black phone down the back of a toilet.

The offence, contrary to Section 36 of the Prisons Act, can result in a jail term of up to one year and €5,000 fine.

The judge heard that Dumbrell has 71 prior criminal convictions and, in January this year, he was given a €99 fine, at Dublin District Court, for committing the same offence in October last year.

He was handed jail sentences in April 2016 for threats to kill or cause serious harm and violent disorder. His previous offences included another incident of unlawfully having a phone in prison, during an earlier sentence.

Previously, he was also given an eight-year sentence, with three years suspended, for assault causing harm.

Defence solicitor, Kate McGhee, said her client was pleading guilty at the first opportunity and there was no need for an order for disclosure of evidence. She said Dumbrell had bought the phone to keep in contact with his partner and children.

He knew it was in breach of the prison rules, she said.

He has been moved to Cork Prison, but was brought back to Dublin for the hearing.

Dressed in a tracksuit, Dumbrell spoke to say he would be going back to Cork Prison after the case, and to confirm that he was from Dublin.

Judge Mitchell noted Dumbrell’s earlier convictions for the same offence and said the problem was that “he has not learned a lesson”. He also said prisoners were also allowed a certain number of calls in a week to their families.

The two months will run consecutively to Dumbrell’s current sentence.