A builder made 'the worst mistake of his life' when he tried to smuggle a mobile phone into a prison to help out a friend, a court heard.

Zdzislaw Eugeniusz Slowinski, 42, pleaded guilty to bringing the phone and charger into HM Prison Guys Marsh near Shaftesbury.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Valera told Weymouth Magistrates Court that Slowinski was visiting an inmate at the prison on June 27 this year when it became apparent to guards that he was secreting something on his person.

"[Slowinksi] looked uncomfortable and was seen going into a disabled toilet," Mrs Valera said. "He was searched and an object was removed from his boxer shorts.

"It was an iPhone, wrapped in clingfilm."

Slowinksi also had a charger for the phone with him.

Mrs Valera said Slowinski had been aware of the illegality of his actions, and stressed that the crime was a serious one.

"Phones can be used for drug-dealing inside prisons," she said. "And they can also be used to harass and intimidate victims and witnesses."

Mitigating, Patricia Sheehan said her client, of Chilton Street, Bridgwater, Somerset, had made 'the worst mistake of his life'.

She said the defendant's friend was in Guys Marsh after causing death by dangerous driving, and that the inmate's family were struggling to cope without being able to communicate with him.

"[Slowinski] took the decision to help out by taking the phone," Ms Sheehan said.

She said Slowinski, a Polish national, had been in the UK for 15 years with a previously unblemished record, was married with a daughter and ran a building firm. "This was the worst mistake of his life," she said. "But he did it out of compassion."

Chairman of the bench Karen Spooner sentenced Slowinski to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

She also handed down a £200 fine and ordered the seizure and destruction of the phone.