He ‘still has plenty of growing up to do’, a court heard
Bobby Hoyle was given an eight-month suspended sentence after he was found with a phone inside HMP Hull(Image: Submitted)
A young man was given a chance to start afresh after he admitted hiding a mobile phone down his trousers when it was detected in his prison cell. Bobby Hoyle, 22, of Normanby Road, Scunthorpe, was handed an eight month suspended jail sentence at Hull Crown Court on Friday after he concealed a mobile phone from prison guards while serving a sentence at HMP Hull. When the phone was detected, he then tried to blame his cellmate for smuggling the phone into the prison.
On August 13, 2025, two prison officers conducted a mobile phone detection sweep, prosecutor Beatrice Allsop told the court. The device provides a reading if there is any mobile phone signal in the area. A full strength phone signal was found outside the cell Hoyle occupied with another inmate.
When the prison officers entered the cell, Hoyle was standing behind the door. He told the officers “I know what you’ve come for” and attempted to hide the phone in his jogging bottoms. He then “hunched over into a ball” and was taken to the floor by the prison guards. He then threw the phone across the cell to his cellmate, who was standing by the window. There was a green iPhone charger found in an outlet next to the bed. Hoyle then said the phone belonged to his cell mate and that “he had no phone until that day”. He accepted he had possession of the phone when the officers entered the cell.
Defending Hoyle, Fuad Arshad said: “It’s not all bad news on his behalf. He has been offered employment through his uncle. Mr Hoyle is very good with his hands and he is interested in motor vehicles. Detailing is the job which has been offered to him. He has not ever acquired a full-time job. This would be his very first opportunity of coming into the world of work.”
He added that the offence took place over a year ago when Hoyle was 20 and “he still has plenty of growing up to do”, but this employment could help him “make something of his life”. If Hoyle were to return to prison, Mr Arshad said he would “pick up bad habits and keep perhaps the wrong company. This is a young man who presents with at least a prospect of change.”
Sentencing Hoyle, Recorder Gordon Stables said: “Such devices undermine prison discipline, they can lead to further offending and they prevent the monitoring of communications by the prison authorities. They can lead to intimidation, criminality, interference of justice and further offending.
“I understand you’re going to start work, and frankly, you should. The sooner you start work the better. It will give you something to do, it will make you feel better about yourself and your place in the world. It will give you some legitimate earnings to spend in a positive way. It will give you the start of a career. I’m going to take a chance on you and suspend the sentence. Take this chance, good luck.”
Hoyle was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for one year, for possession of without authority of a mobile phone whilst in prison. He was also given 16 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
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