A CONVICTED killer who had a secret stash of mobile phones while in prison awaiting trial has admitted conspiring to commit arson.

Kane Hull, 30, committed the offences when he was just days away from the start of his murder trial at Carlisle Crown Court, conspiring with another man to “torch” a car in the city's Morton area.

He did this on October 3 last year, it has emerged.

Hull denied the arson conspiracy allegation but changed his plea to guilty following legal discussions at the city's crown court. He also admitted illegally possessing two prohibited phones while on remand in Durham Prison.

Hull was jailed last year with another man for the murder of 24-year-old Ryan Kirkpatrick in a brutal and targeted city centre knife attack.

At Carlisle Crown Court, appearing from Frankland Prison via a video link, Hull entered guilty pleas to the three new charges he faced – two relating to his possession of prohibited phones and the arson conspiracy.

At the time, he was being held at Durham Prison. The murder trial was due to get underway in just over a week, following the extradition of Hull and his co-defendant in the murder case, Liam Porter, from the Republic of Ireland.

The wording of the arson charge states “that on October 3, 2022, at Durham, he conspired with Steven Paul Kidd to commit arson on a vehicle belonging to a man whose name is included in court papers.

Kidd, 25, of Oaklands Drive, Upperby, has already pleaded guilty to the arson conspiracy. The charges relating to Hull's phones specify that those offences were committed at Frankland Prison on October 11 last year.

After being convicted of murder in late October last year, Hull was given a life sentence, with the judge ruling that he must serve a minimum of 28 years before he is eligible to apply for release on parole. Porter, 33, who also convicted of murder, was given a life term with a minimum term of 26 years.

The trial heard graphic evidence of how Hull, nursing a grudge against Mr Kirkpatrick, fatally stabbed his victim without warning in Carlyle’s Court as Mr Kirkpatrick was enjoying a night out with friends.

Porter was with Hull, and after the killing they fled the country, and with the help of accomplices they attempted to lie low in the Republic of Ireland. Hull and Kidd will be sentenced on Wednesday.