Prison officer who has relationship with inmate cries as secret messages exposed

 A prison officer who had a relationship with an inmate cried has in court as her secret messages were exposed.

Amie Turner, 34, from Bolton, was working as a prison officer at HMP Manchester when she made dozens of secret calls and texts to a prisoner using a smuggled phone.

Manchester Crown Court heard phone records showed Turner's number had been in "sustained contact" with the phone between November and December 2023.

Turner made 16 and received 28 calls - coming to almost four hours of conversation - and she continued to call the inmate beyond his release, receiving no reply, prosecutor, Louise Kitchin, said.

She was arrested while on duty in July 2024, and initially denied any knowledge of contact with prisoners, but later pleaded guilty.

The court heard there is no evidence to say she provided the illicit phone to the prisoner, and that the unauthorised phone was never discovered.

Defence counsel Kimberley Obrusik told the court Turner had been manipulated by a 'sophisticated criminal' and feared she could be blackmailed.

She said the mum-of-one had since resigned from the prison service and found new employment.

Recorder Jennifer Cleeve told Turner: "You conducted an inappropriate relationship."

She said the defendant's explanation for her behaviour was 'woeful', adding that she had committed a "serious abuse of trust" that undermined discipline within the prison system.

She said: "Your culpability is high. You were fully aware that mobile phones are not permitted in prison. You know your behaviour was problematic."

The court heard Turner had previously received a final written warning in 2020 over misconduct connected to her employment, which the defence said was a matter 'entirely dissimilar' to the later offences.

"Your behaviour leads to a corrupt system," the judge added. "This is the corruption that the prohibition on phones in prison intends to prevent.

"Your role as a prison officer is precisely to ensure that those on the outside are kept safe from inmates."

Turner cried as she was sentenced to a year and three months, after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office and encouraging and assisting the use of a mobile phone in prison.

Detective Inspector Brian Morley said: "This case highlights the serious consequences of corruption within the prison system.

"We will continue to work tirelessly with partner agencies and police forces across the region to root out such behaviour and ensure the integrity of our prisons.

"We want to reassure the honest, dedicated, and hardworking prison staff that through partnership working with our prisons across the region, and the HMPPS Counter Corruption Unit, we will continue to take action against people who choose to engage in corrupt activity."