Arthur Collins sentenced to a further eight months in prison after smuggling mobile phone

Ferne McCann’s acid attacker ex-boyfriend, Arthur Collins, has been sentenced to an additional eight months in prison after he was found guilty of smuggling a mobile phone into prison so that he could call the then-pregnant The Only Way Is Essex star from his cell.

The 25 year old hid a phone, two SIM cards and two memory sticks inside one of his crutches while he was awaiting trial for a brutal acid attack in an East London nightclub in April 2017.

Arthur was jailed to 20 years in prison in December 2017 and was back in court just days later, this time pleading guilty to hiding the mobile phone so that he could call friends and family – including Ferne.

Arthur appeared in court via video link from his maximum security Belmarsh prison, with the inmate dressed in purple and yellow clothing, which signifies that he is though to be a “high risk” of escape.

At an earlier hearing, his lawyer Audrey Mogan told Bromley Magistrates’ Court: “He had this phone because he and his partner had been hounded by the media.

“He knows there was a phone in the cell but he knows the calls are recorded. Because of that, he was afraid that information would get out to the media.”

She also insisted the phone did not serve “any sinister purpose”.

Ferne and Arthur first met in Ibiza in 2016, having an on/off relationship before officially getting together in March 2017.

The reality star had told Arthur that she was pregnant with his child just before the devastating acid attack, which left 14 people with life-changing injuries, took place.

In court, Arthur admitted that he threw the liquid but claimed that he did not know it was acid; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 19 December, just weeks after Ferne gave birth to their daughter, Sunday, with the judge slamming Arthur’s lack of remorse and branding him a “despicable liar”.

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