Several female prison officers jailed for starting relationships with convicts behind bars

Several female prisoner workers have been jailed for engaging in relationships and sexual activity with convicts while at work. Six officers were caught having sexual relationships with the inmates they were supposed to be watching over including convicted murderers, gangsters and drug lords and eventually caged. Joanne Hunter started an inappropriate relationship with an inmate and smuggled cannabis hidden in a juice carton and Red Bull can into Forest Bank jail. The 28-year-old reportedly smuggled numerous packages into the jail and thought she was “in love.” Hunter began a relationship with Willis, kissing him and sending him explicit pictures of herself, but denied that it ever became sexual. Prison authorities became aware of the crimes and she confessed after being confronted. She was then jailed for three years after she pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and conspiring to convey list A articles into a prison, reports MEN. Stephanie Smithwhite was another former prison officer who became obsessed with drug lord Curtis Warren who ruined her life by getting into a relationship with him. Smithwhite and the 56-year-old convict regularly began having sex and secret affairs while he was behind bars at maximum security prison HMP Frankland. The pair quickly became infatuated with each other and continued their relationship for six months while she was supposed to be responsible for Warren’s security and supervision. The 40-year-old became so besotted she got a tattoo of his name on her body, next to a rose. She even allegedly cut a hole in her trousers so the pair could have intercourse. It was only when other officers became suspicious that the sordid affair ended, and Smithwhite was investigated for misconduct in a public office. In February 2020 she was jailed for two years after admitting two counts of misconduct in a public office, with one charge relating to their sexual relationship. Another prison officer was caught having an affair with a convicted murderer after a search of her home revealed snaps of the pair and birthday cards they’d given to each other. Olivia Hodgson had been working at HMP Garth in Leyland, Lancs since 2017 and started a relationship with the prisoner Laverne Forde-Morgan in early 2020. A court heard how the 26-year-old had smuggled mobile phones into the prison, which she used to share illicit messages with Forde-Morgan, who was serving a life-sentence. She was then sentenced to eight months imprisonment for misconduct in a public office. Sarah Williams was jailed after it emerged she had relationships with multiple prisoners at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool. Investigations into the 38-year-old, started in early 2020 when prison bosses received information about the affairs. Cell searches were later carried out and mobile phones were recovered, which found Williams had been communicating with inmates. After a probe Williams was jailed for 18 months at Liverpool Crown Court in December 2023 after pleading guilty to three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and one count of causing a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to data. Katie Loxton, 27, was a custody officer at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire when she first met convicted drug dealer Adam Higgs. Between July 2021 and January 2022, Higgs made 3,451 calls to prison officer Loxton from a telephone in his cell. The pair had bypassed the prison’s security system by setting up a fake contact on the telephone in Higgs’ cell. Higgs spoke with Loxton for more than 380 hours and spent £798 making the thousands of calls. The pair also performed sexual acts to each other over a mobile phone stashed in Higgs’ cell. Higgs, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, also used the stashed mobile phone to communicate with Loxton through social media. Loxton was jailed for 12 months for misconduct in a public office and without authority transmitting or causing the transmission of an image/sound by electronic means from within a prison. Her fling with Andrew Roberts, who was jailed in 2003 after he murdered 23-year-old Louise L’Homme and their 10-month-old daughter Tia in Tylorstown, Rhondda , took place in 2018 when he was serving time in a prison on the Isle of Wight. The mum-of-three also provided Roberts with the personal mobile number of another prison officer knowing he intended to assault her colleague with whom she had also had an affair. She failed to raise the alarm about the assault meaning the officer ‘fell into a trap’ and received significant head injuries in the attack at the hands of Roberts. She pleaded guilty to four charges of misconduct in a public office in 2021 and was sentenced to three years in prison. Prison officer Aisha Golsby was jailed after she tipped off a prisoner at HMP Portland about a cell search. Golsby, 23, had become romantically involved with Deano Harrison, who had been jailed for robbery and drug dealing. Between June 2021 and March 2022, Golsby communicated with Harrison over social media and texts using two different mobile phones. She neglected to report Harrison was in possession of the phones, despite it being mandatory for prison staff to do so. Between January 28 and January 29, 2022, Golsby tipped off Harrison about an upcoming cell search knowing he was in possession of the phones. She was jailed for 16 months in August 2023. Shania Begum was caught having sex with an inmate in a store cupboard at HMP Birmingham. The prison officer was put under surveillance after arousing suspicions at the jail. A covert camera was installed in a store cupboard which subsequently filmed her behaviour with prisoner Joshua Mullings escalating from flirting and ‘heavy petting’ to full sexual intercourse. She ignored her work radio going off while she was with him and on one occasion she was interrupted by a colleague who said she had been gone for an hour. The 25-year-old claimed she felt ‘cherished’ by Mullings at a time when she had been arranged to be married to another man who was said to be ‘controlling’. Begum of Hurleybrook Way in Telford admitted misconduct in a public office. She sobbed in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court where she was jailed for 16 months on January 11, 2024. Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.