A serial rapist jailed for life in 2002 claimed he had never seen a mobile phone when he was caught with a charging cable.
Andrew Pattison, who started his life sentence more than five years before the first iPhone was launched, claimed he had the cable to charge his vape.
Yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court, Pattison, 56, from Paisley, was jailed for two months after he admitted having the banned item in Castle Huntly on October 25.
Depute fiscal Matthew Kerr said: “There was an intelligence-led search and the item was recovered from within the accused’s cell.”
Pattison’s lawyer said: “He found an electrical cable in a bin. He was an electrical engineer and spends his time fixing things for prisoners and occasionally for staff – games consoles and the like.
“He discovered the cables and thought they might be useful to him. It is the same type of cable used to charge a vaping device.
“He uses a vaping device and thought he could use it as a spare charger.
“He does appreciate it is the kind of cable which could be used to charge mobile devices.
“It’s quite clear he didn’t intend to use it for charging a telephone.
“He has been in prison for nearly 18 years and he has not seen a mobile phone within that time. He has been downgraded and returned to closed conditions.
“He understands it is a serious issue and that he must only have Scottish Prison Service authorised cables.”
Motorola issued the first mobile phone in 1983 with a £2,639 price tag. Market leading brand Samsung’s first phone was launched in 2002.
