Friday, 1 August 2025

HMP Berwyn prison officer sentenced for affair with inmate

 A prison officer has been sentenced for having an affair with an inmate.

Roxanne Walker, 34, from Upton, Merseyside, previously admitted misconduct in public office at HMP Berwyn, Wrexham, and possessing cannabis.

She received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

At Mold Crown Court, judge Niclas Parry said no criminality was encouraged or assisted because of her "infatuation" with inmate Daniel Carter.

Prosecuting at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, Ryan Rothwell said during several months in 2021 colleagues at Berwyn had seen behaviour which caused concern including Walker telling one of them that the inmate was "her type" and stroking his arm.

'I have fallen in love'

Walker told a manager an occasion on a sofa may have been regarded as "dodgy", but her relationship with Carter was just "platonic" - however call monitoring discovered "sexually explicit" chats.

After her arrest, Walker declared: "I have made a mistake. I have fallen in love with Daniel Carter."

Sentencing, the judge said there was no suggestion she passed any drugs or a mobile phone to the prisoner because of her "infatuation".

Defence barrister Andrew McInnes said Ms Walker's GP identified a "borderline personality disorder". She was also described as "kind-hearted, caring but perhaps trusting and naïve".

"In reality, with the benefit of hindsight, she wasn't suited to this job in HMP Berwyn," said Mr McInnes.

"The relationship didn't progress physically," he said.

The court heard that the inmate had a history of "conditioning" behaviour towards staff.

In addition to her suspended sentence, Walker was ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity.

HMP Berwyn opened in February 2017 and has more than 2,000 inmates.

A Freedom of Information request by Bellis Media North Wales revealed 18 prison officers at HMP Berwyn had been sacked or resigned after being accused of affairs with inmates.

The Prison Service said 500 of its staff had received anti-corruption training in a bid to stop affairs.

Gangs hold such influence over jails ‘it keeps me awake at night’, says Timpson

 Organised criminal gangs who “corrupt” staff and enforce drug debts with violence hold such a huge influence over jails across England and Wales that it “keeps me awake at night”, the prisons minister has said.

James Timpson told the Guardian that Prison Service staff who worked with criminal gangs to smuggle drugs and contraband into jails were being targeted by a “beefed up” counter-corruption unit that last year prosecuted 37 officers.

His comments follow deepening concerns from prison watchdogs that criminal gangs are taking control of prisons – a claim Lord Timpson rejects. Criminologists have said the gangs are targeting and corrupting inexperienced officers.

Timpson said in an interview: “Serious organised crime is a big problem, a huge problem, and it’s one of the things that keeps me awake at night, because of the impact it has on a prison’s environment, from drugs, debt, violence and everything that goes with that.

“They [organised criminal gangs] corrupt both men and women to bring in drugs. And a lot of these serious organised criminals are in their cells at night, they’re actually very, very wealthy people and are connected with very big illegal businesses.”

Police and the National Crime Agency were working with the counter-corruption unit to identify connections between gangs and prison officers, he said, while HM Prison and Probation Service had funded 20 specialist police investigators.

He said: “The unit has been beefed up, and it needs to be, because it’s an increasing problem … Through our counter-corruption unit, we have found people who are bringing in drugs and contraband.”

Timpson, the former chief executive of Timpson Group, the retailer that provides key cutting and shoe repair services, was speaking as more than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, prepared to meet the government on Thursday to explore how technology could help monitor offenders in the community more effectively and tackle violence in prison.

Timpson said artificial intelligence could be used to ease the heavy workload of probation officers who at present spend “so much time” duplicating data. “Technology can really impact what’s happening in prison, but most importantly in probation. You speak to some probation staff and they spend a lot of time finding housing for people, and when it fails, finding housing again,” he said.

Timpson took up his role at the Ministry of Justice last July, when the penal system in England and Wales was close to breaking point, and oversaw the early release of thousands of inmates to ease overcrowding and free up space.

A sentencing review conducted by the former justice secretary David Gauke is expected to recommend next week that more prisoners should be tagged and serve their sentences outside prison. However, the security company Serco, contracted by the government to manage tagging since October 2023, has been severely criticised after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary last month found that criminals were going untagged for months after their release.

Timpson indicated he would not be withdrawing the contract. “What I’ve learned from doing this job is the procurement processes is well ingrained and long term, and it is pretty much what it is. I think it’s our job to keep pressure on, to call it out when it’s not right but to work with them to solve the problems that there are. Things have improved a lot, but I’m still not happy,” he said.

The Prison Service remained under pressure, he said, with fewer than 1,000 spare places and more than 88,000 people in custody in England and Wales.

Timpson said he was confident further emergency measures to combat prison overcrowding would not be needed this year.

He also said the government would have to spend £500m on dilapidated cells this year as it attempts to keep them in working order so they could receive offenders. “One of the problems is, when you go around, certainly the older Victorian prisons, there’s always this ongoing problem about losing cells because of various bits of dilapidation, and it costs a lot of money. That means we’re spending £500m at the moment on dilapidations and a lot of that is just keeping capacity there,” he said.

Exclusive Insigh

 

 Inside Time's July 2025 Report

In its most recent issue (dated 31 July 2025), Inside Time uncovered a striking and deeply troubling trend: female prison governors routinely face entrenched sexism and a “boys’ club” culture embedded in senior prison leadership.

  • One governor recalled how male colleagues would openly joke that "a woman’s place is in the kitchen."

  • Another was met with silence and shock when she informed a male manager of her pregnancy—he literally hung up the phone on her.

  • A third who experienced sexual harassment was warned to keep quiet or risk ruining her career.

The shock rise of prison guard sex cases revealed as officers cut HOLES in uniforms for quickies with porn-mad inmates

 The Venezuela native, 30, a married swinger with an account on OnlyFans, claimed to have been “terrified for her own safety” when she was filmed in June last year. But her lies have since been debunked.

The same day as the now-infamous video was recorded, she was also captured performing a sex act with the same inmate, Linton Weirich, on her bodycam.

She romped with the burglar, held in Wandsworth Prison for stealing £65,000 worth of valuables, at least once before and even arranged for an officer “to be present to keep watch”. 

The judge said De Sousa Abreu “participated with evident enthusiasm” in the viral video, which was nearly five minutes long and had “caused great harm” to the prison service.

Shockingly, in recent years stories like this have become increasingly common, with record numbers of female prison officers fired for having sex with male inmates.

In the last three years alone, 29 were sacked, compared to just nine between 2017 and 2019, while 50 more, from 124 investigations, were suspended or moved to a new role instead. 

Grooming for sex appears so commonplace that gangs are exploiting it too, with one Albanian con brazenly boasting on TikTok that he “f***ed female prison officers for £2,000”.

Now, former prison workers and inmates tell The Sun why cases have skyrocketed, blaming rushed hirings of inexperienced young women easily preyed upon by manipulative career criminals.

Ageing prison population 'sees officers working as carers'

 The ageing jail population has left prison officers providing care for a growing number of older inmates "dying in front of them", officers have said.

The warning from the Prison Officers' Association (POA) has come as new figures revealed the oldest prisoner in England and Wales was 104 years old.

The data showed there were 13,617 inmates aged above 50 out of a prison population of 82,710 in June 2019.

The Prison Service said it was working to meet the needs of elderly prisoners.

More and more inmates were frail, incontinent or had dementia, the POA said.

"You're looking at young prison staff that are trained to be prison officers that are becoming carers," said Dave, who has worked in prisons as a custodial manager for more than 30 years.

The former officer, who did not want his real name used, said when he started work older prisoners were transferred to less secure jails when they approached the end of their sentences but that had changed.

"Now you're getting older prisoners starting big sentences and the young prison officers are coming straight from university, with very, very little life experience and then they're having to deal with major traumatic events like somebody dying in front of them or caring for somebody that is at the end of their life."

His concerns were echoed by the chief inspector of prisons, Peter Clarke, who said the Prison Service should consider whether a new type of accommodation was needed, specifically designed to deal with older prisoners.

"It feels to me as if they're trying to shoehorn this problem into existing accommodation instead of thinking more radically," Mr Clarke said.

Ken Denton, from West Yorkshire, was released from prison in June after serving a sentence for fraud and threats to kill. Aged 53, he was housed in an over-50s wing at a Yorkshire prison.

"When you look at some of the prisons, you know, they're three or four landings high, thin ladder stairways, how do you expect an elderly person to climb them?

"When they come in, you are assessed and they'll say well you should be located 'flat' but if there's no space where you going to put somebody? How can you put somebody at second or third landing? You can't, it's inhumane.

"I saw people with cancer, saw people with diabetes, long term prisoners that need their medication but can't get to their medication because the medication hatch is on the second floor and they've got to go to a lift but they can't get into the lift because there's no staff to take them.

"If you needed a wheelchair, it might take you three to four months to get a wheelchair because one had to be designed for yourself and it also had to come from the specific local authority in the area you came from."


The Prison Service said: "An ageing prison population poses particular challenges, which is why we work closely with local councils and healthcare providers to make sure we meet the needs of elderly prisoners.

"Last year, a report by the chief inspector of prisons found there was good work ongoing to adapt prisons for older inmates, and we have updated guidance for governors on how to best support them."

However, national chair of the POA, Mark Fairhurst, said the system was failing to meet the needs of elderly inmates.

"We need more disabled access cells situated at ground floor level. We need 24-hour healthcare and we need proper training for staff."

Analysis - The ageing prison population

The number of prisoners over the age of 50 has almost tripled from 4,824 in 2002, the point at which comparable records start, to 13,617 in 2019.

The overall prison population in England and Wales has risen 16% in that time.

About 16% of prisoners were over the age of 50 as of June 2019, compared with just 7% in 2002.

The figures showed that of the 13,617 over 50s, 1,759 were at least 70.

Women made up 548 of the over 50s prisoners, including 32 aged 70 and over.

People in their 30s are still the largest age group in prison, making up just under a third of the overall population.

Presentational grey line

Tougher prison sentences and the rise in the number of those convicted of historic sexual offences are believed to be part of the reason for the ageing prison population.

In 2016, 101-year-old Ralph Clarke was jailed for 13 years for committing 30 child sex offences dating from the 1970s and 80s. He was believed to be the oldest person convicted in British legal history.

Dr Mary Turner, reader in health services research at Huddersfield University, said: "People tend to get longer sentences, even in older age, now than they might have done in the past and there are now more older people going into prison than there are being released."

She said the situation was not sustainable.

"We can't just see these numbers going up and up and trying to cope with it in a prison environment so we're going to get to a point where we have to think of alternatives and we have to find solutions."

She said options could include building secure care homes and considering alternatives to custodial sentence for older offenders.

Peter Clarke warned the number of men over 50 being held in jails would rise to more than 14,000 by 2022, representing 17% of the prison population.

"The Prison Service has so far has said that it's not going to develop an overall strategy to deal with this issue," the chief inspector of prisons said.

"When prisoners get older, less capable physically or infirm, they don't provide an escape risk, they still have to be held in custody very often and it's not to say they wouldn't present a risk to the public if they were completely at liberty.

"But the question is do they need to be held still in levels of security which are not needed for their physical capabilities and which inevitably are very expensive as well?"


my view.

There’s a debate happening right now — across the media, within Parliament, among academics, prison reformers, and even governors — and it boils down to one essential question:

“Do elderly prisoners really need to be held in high-security custody, when their physical condition no longer poses a threat?”

The BBC asked this in reference to our ageing prison population — a question many are now answering with a soft, sympathetic “no.” But for me?

The answer is still yes.

And I’ll tell you why.

 When Age Is Used to Rewrite Justice

We are entering dangerous territory when we begin to believe that age cancels out accountability. I don’t care if someone is 80 years old and uses a walking stick or if they’re 25 and fully able-bodied — if you broke the law, especially in a way that deeply hurt another person or community, you serve your sentence.

That’s not harshness. That’s justice.

This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about recognising the core principle of responsibility. The moment we start shifting that line based on personal characteristics — be it age, gender, identity, background — we’re no longer operating under a system of equal justice. We’re allowing compassion to override consequence, and that, frankly, is a betrayal of the very concept of fairness.

The Meaning of Justice — and Why It Must Apply to Everyone

People say: “But they’re frail,” “They’ve done 20 years already,” “They won’t reoffend.”
And I say: “Were they frail when they committed the crime?”
Because accountability doesn’t vanish with age.

We cannot build a justice system that only punishes people when it’s easy or convenient — then throws in the towel when age or illness makes things a bit more complicated. That’s not justice. That’s evasion.

People in society — especially victims — deserve to see the law upheld without exceptions. That includes elderly people who committed serious crimes. In fact, it especially includes those who used age, position, or power to get away with things for decades.

Some of the worst offences — sexual abuse, fraud, historic violence — are committed by people now reaching their older years. Should they be allowed to serve time in “comfortable care settings” just because they’ve reached 70? Is that what we’re saying now? Because if so, we’re not building a fairer system — we’re building one based on sympathy, not truth.

 The Problem Isn’t That Old People Are in Prison — It’s That the Prison System Is Broken

Let me be clear: I am not saying that elderly people in prison shouldn’t have proper healthcare, or humane conditions, or dignity. Of course they should. Every prisoner should.

But the answer to poor prison healthcare, to understaffing, to inaccessibility, is not:

“Let’s just release them.”
The answer is:
“Let’s fix the system.”

Because when we say, “This person is too old or ill to be here,” what we’re really saying is, “We haven’t built a system that can treat people with basic human dignity while still holding them to account.”

And that failure belongs to the government, not to the concept of justice.

 Uniforms Don’t Equal Mercy — But Neither Does Age

Let’s stop pretending that prison officers are the ones who want to hold onto elderly inmates out of spite. In reality, they’re being forced into roles they were never trained for — carers, nurses, palliative support. I’ve seen it. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not fair on staff either.

But what’s worse is when the system protects elderly offenders, not by caring for them better, but by lowering the standard of accountability entirely. That’s not justice. That’s evasion dressed up as empathy.

And I’ve got no time for it.

The System Is Failing — And This Debate Proves It

If our solution to overcrowding and poor prison conditions is to release people based on age, then what we’re really saying is:

“We can’t fix the system, so we’ll just let the problem out the door.”

That’s not a solution. That’s avoidance.
That’s a justice system that has given up.

And when we give up on justice — even for one group — we’re building a precedent that will come back to bite us all.

So Here's My Final Word

I don’t care if you’re male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, old, young, black, white, rich, poor — if you commit a crime, you serve your sentence. Period.

If the conditions are inhumane? Fix them.
If the healthcare is inadequate? Improve it.
But don’t come to me with the argument that someone should go free because they’re now weak, or dying, or old.

That’s not justice. That’s betrayal.

And the fact this argument is even being taken seriously in official circles — governors, ombudsmen, ministers — tells me everything I need to know:

The prison system is failing.
Not because it holds elderly people.
But because it no longer believes it can — or should — deliver justice for all.



When Prison Officers Lie About Suicide Watch Checks

 A prisons watchdog has warned of the “widespread falsification” of records claiming checks on suicidal inmates have been carried out.

A report from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Adrian Usher found evidence that prison staff had lied over mandatory welfare checks for prisoners at risk of self-harm.

It comes as prisoner deaths have soared by 35 per cent year on year, with 486 deaths investigated by the ombudsman in 2024-2025, 100 of which were self-inflicted.

This includes 393 deaths in prison, up 106 compared to the previous year, and 73 deaths within 14 days of being released from custody.

There was also a 15 per cent increase in complaints from prisoners as widespread overcrowding puts the system “under strain”, the report found.

“I am concerned about the rise in complaints and deaths we have seen, and we are working closely with the services in remit to understand what the causes may be,” Mr Usher said.

The ombudsman’s report noted the prison population is getting older thanks to longer prison sentences and a significant rise in historic sexual offence convictions.

The report also identified systemic issues around falsified records, particularly relating to at-risk prisoners subject to Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork (ACCT) monitoring.

It comes after checks of prison CCTV proved staff had lied about carrying out welfare checks on a prisoner who died.

“This year, we have been disappointed to identify widespread falsification of records by staff, particularly relating to ACCT checks (intended to provide support to and monitoring of prisoners considered at risk of suicide and self-harm) and routine checks which also serve as an opportunity to check on prisoners’ welfare,” the report said.

“In one case, a review of CCTV on the wing where the prisoner died identified that staff had falsified his ACCT document, recording that they had conducted checks when they had not.”

As a result, the ombudsman recommended that staff who have been found to falsify records face disciplinary action.

The Prison Reform Trust said the findings were “shocking and unacceptable” as they called for urgent reform.

“The findings of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s Annual Report are deeply troubling and highlight the urgent need for reform in our prison system,” chief executive Pia Sinha said.

“The 35 per cent increase in investigations following a death, particularly among older prisoners, is a stark reminder of the human cost of overcrowded prisons and systemic failings.

“The identification of widespread falsification of records, especially in monitoring prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm, is shocking and unacceptable. ​It underscores the need to support staff with proper training and resources, but also to hold them accountable when standards are breached.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “While the majority of deaths are due to natural causes, we take each and every one very seriously and anyone found falsifying records faces disciplinary action and being referred to the police.

“We have also improved observation checks of those at risk of self-harm – ensuring CCTV is properly reviewed.”

my view


There’s something I need to say. Not want to say — need to say. Because when you’ve lived it, when you’ve been there, when the cold silence of a cell closes in and your safety depends on others actually doing what they’re supposed to… it becomes impossible to stay quiet.

We’re told these places are about “rehabilitation” and “duty of care.” We’re told the system works — or at least tries to. But what happens when those on the inside — the ones paid to protect the vulnerable — simply lie? What happens when officers sign their name in a suicide-watch logbook pretending they’ve checked on you, when in reality, hours have passed and no one has so much as looked in? I’ll tell you what happens: people die.

I’ve been on ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork) many times. It’s the suicide-monitoring protocol in UK prisons. It’s supposed to keep people alive when they’re at their lowest. I remember what it felt like to be that person — the one people were meant to be watching, meant to be checking in on. But those checks? Half the time they never happened. And I’m not alone in saying this. So many others have seen it — or didn’t live long enough to say they did.

The Books Don’t Lie — But the Staff Sometimes Do

Here’s the truth people outside don’t always know: those ACCT logbooks are legal documents. They are official records. What’s written in them isn’t just a scribble on paper. It’s a statement of duty carried out — or supposed to be. When prison staff tick boxes saying they made a check when they didn’t, that is fraud. That is a criminal offence. It’s not just laziness or forgetfulness. It’s deception.

And yet… where is the accountability?

Where is the justice for the ones who died when no one came? For the families who were told their loved one was “monitored regularly,” only to later find out the logs were forged?

Who Is Protecting the Uniforms?

We have watchdogs. We have inspectors. We have the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and the Chief Inspector of Prisons, and the Ministry of Justice itself. So tell me this — where are they when people inside are screaming for help that never comes?

Because these watchdogs know. The PPO’s 2025 annual report openly states that “widespread falsification” of suicide-check records has occurred — backed up by CCTV, no less. People lied. Staff signed off checks they didn’t do. And what happened to them? Are they still wearing the uniform? Still collecting their paycheques?

Every time this happens and no one is held accountable, it sends a message: that some lives don’t matter. That officers can bend the rules, lie on legal documents, and still be protected. The uniform shields them, while the vulnerable are left exposed.

This Is Not Just Policy — It’s Life and Death

Let’s be clear: suicide in prison is preventable. These systems are in place for a reason. When they’re followed, lives are saved. When they’re ignored, lives are lost.

We are talking about people in moments of unbearable crisis. Mental illness, trauma, addiction, grief — they don’t disappear behind bars. They often get worse. That’s why ACCT exists. It’s not optional. It’s not for show. It’s there to catch people on the edge — before they fall.

When staff don’t do their job, it’s not a technicality. It’s lethal.

I Speak Because I’ve Lived It

This isn’t just something I read about. I’ve felt it. I’ve sat in that silence, counting the minutes, watching the clock, waiting for someone to check the hatch. Sometimes they did. Sometimes they didn’t. But the book always said they had.

I’ve watched men break down in the dark, unheard and unseen, because the log said they were “settled” when no one had even looked.

And I ask — if I wasn’t here to say this, who would?

To Those in Power: We Are Watching Too

So to the PPO, to the Ministry of Justice, to every Governor and Director who signs off on a staffing schedule that leaves wings unattended — what are you going to do?

How many more suicides does it take before the people responsible for lying are removed from their posts? How many grieving families have to hear the same phrases — “appropriate care was provided,” “lessons have been learned” — while the same failures repeat, over and over again?

We inside know what’s really happening. And now, the public is beginning to know too.

Don’t let this become another ignored scandal. Don’t let “procedure” be a shield for neglect, dishonesty, and inaction. These aren’t just logbooks. These are people’s lives.