Lisa Forgione court assessment

 
The following is a write up of  Lisa Forgione court assessment

Allegation (as amended at the hearing):

As a registered Practitioner Psychologist ([PYL039401) your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of misconduct. In that:

1. At an unknown time between October 2019 and 12 July 2021, you breached professional boundaries with Service User A in that you entered into an emotional and/or romantic relationship with him while he was assigned to you at HMP Isle of Wight.

2. On 6 September 2021, you provided a response to security questions from the Ministry of Justice in which you stated you had never been in a relationship with Service User A or given him the impression that you would want a relationship with him, when this was not the case.

3. On 6 September 2021, you provided a response to security questions from the Ministry of Justice in which you stated that Service User A had disclosed the presence of a relationship between yourself and him for reasons as set out in Schedule A, when this was not the case.

4. Between 25 December 2021 and 15 February 2022, you breached professional boundaries and/or did not act in the best interests of Service User A by carrying out the course of conduct set out in Schedule B.

5. On 16 May 2022, you breached professional boundaries and/or did not act in the best interests of Service User A during the purple visit by carrying out the course of conduct set out in Schedule C.

6. On 20 May 2022, you wrote a letter to the HCPC in which you stated that you were not in a sexual, financial or emotional relationship with Service User A when this was not the case.

7. On 24 July 2022, you breached professional boundaries and/or did not act in the best interests of Service User A by sending him a birthday card detailed in Schedule D.

8. Your conduct in relation to allegations 1, 4, 5 and/or 7 was sexual in nature.

9. Your conduct in relation to allegations 2, 3 and/or 6 was dishonest.

10. The matters set out in allegations 1 to 9 above constitute misconduct

11. By reason of your misconduct your fitness to practise is impaired.

Schedule A

You said, “My guess is that this may be linked to his personality difficulties, which make it difficult for him to regulate his emotions and deal with perceived rejection and abandonment. This combined with his own sense of victimisation and high levels of vengeful thinking may have led him to behave in this way in an attempt to harm me and cause me distress for leaving him/my job and letting him down.”

Schedule B

25/12/2021: Telephone contact between registrant and Service User A via the ward payphone
04/01/2022: Four-hour call between Service User A and registrant
08/01/2022: Call from registrant to Service User A
09/01/2022: Call between Service User A and registrant
16/01/2022: Four-hour call between Service User A and registrant
23/01/2022: Call between Service User A and registrant finishing at 04:00 on
24/01/2022
29/01/2022: Several hour-long call between Service User A and registrant
01/02/2022: Several hour-long call between Service User A and registrant
02/02/2022: Several hour-long call between Service User A and registrant
03/02/2022: Moonpig Valentine’s Day card received by Service User A from the registrant
04/02/2022: SKYPE session between Service User A and registrant. Registrant observed to share photographs of herself in a bikini and topless with her arms across her breasts during the call
06/02/2022 SKYPE: call between registrant and Service User A followed immediately by phone call between Service User A and registrant
07/02/2022 SKYPE: call between registrant and Service User A
08/02/2022 SKYPE: call between registrant and Service User A including the registrant showing Service User A photos of other men and asking him to rate them
10/02/2022 SKYPE call between registrant and Service User A
12/02/2022 Mobile telephone call between Service User A and registrant
12/02/2022 SKYPE call between registrant and Service User A
14/02/2022 SKYPE call between registrant and Service User A
15/02/2022 SKYPE call between registrant and Service User A

Schedule C

I. You told Service User A, “You make me happy. I will miss your face. I’m seeing you in less that two weeks I’m really excited. I’m with you to the end” or words to that effect.

ii. After Service User A asked you what side of the bed was his, you demonstrated the side of the bed to him.

iii. You agreed to send photographs of yourself to Service User A.

iv. When Service User A spoke about your ‘peach’, you stood up and showed him your clothed buttocks.

Schedule D

i. Cover of the card has photographs of you in a bikini and topless (with an arm across your breasts).

ii. The card contains the following message:

Words are not enough to express my feelings for you. You make my life worth living. You bring smiles to my face even in my worst days and you always show me how much you love me and care for me. Even the darkest thoughts fade away when you smile at me. And when you look me in the eyes my world shines as bright as you. You are my best friend and my lover. I feel like the luckiest woman on Earth because I have the most wonderful man by my side. Thank you for being my rock.

I hope your birthday is as beautiful and full of love as you are. You deserve only the best, and I only wish that for you. May life bring you everything you are dreaming about.

Happy birthday bumbo mio…
This is the first of many birthdays together.
I’m sure we’ll make it special together and we’ll remember it forever for this reason.

Più di ieri, meno di domani
Always and forever
Lisa xxx

'Stupid' prison officer searched cons' computer records and phoned one under fake name

 

HMP Berwyn prison officer Cally White was investigated after information came to light suggesting she was "forming inappropriate relationships"

A "naïve" prison officer illegally accessed computer records on behalf of two Merseyside drug dealers and repeatedly spoke to one of them on the phone under a false name. Cally White, 26, checked North Wales prison HMP Berwyn's database over 100 times in respect of prisoner Ryan Hamid and his associate David Blackburn.

Mold Crown Court heard White was employed as a prison officer at HMP Berwyn in May 2023. But in November the following year information came to light suggesting White had been "forming inappropriate relationships" with prisoners.

One of the prisoners was Hamid, of Kirkby, with the contact continuing following his release. Hamid was later recalled to prison, but sent to HMP Altcourse in Fazakerley, where he remained in contact with White, who was listed as an approved phone contact under the alias "Sophie Wright".

The court heard during their calls, which were recorded, the pair discussed work, shift patterns and other prisoners and staff at Berwyn. One of the prisoners discussed was Hamid's friend Blackburn, also from Kirkby, and it was implied in the calls she had checked the systems to provide an update on his status.

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The Daily Mail reported in total White accessed Hamid's prison record around 60 times including his personal details, offence details, release dates and case notes.

She also accessed Blackburn's records 44 times, including a record after he and his cellmate were found with a number of illicit items including an iPhone.

It was reported the prosecution accepted White had pleaded on the basis she was not in a romantic relationship with Hamid, nor that cash paid into her bank account was from Blackburn or had been facilitated by Hamid. She pleaded guilty to unauthorised access of the computer system.

White's counsel said: "She knows how stupid she has been. She is not just sorry but deeply ashamed." It was heard the Masters degree-educated woman had a stable relationship, a new job and was returning to university to continue further studies.

The presiding judge, Recorder John Philpotts, told her: "Corruption undermines the whole fabric of the work prisons do and other people must be deterred from behaving in the way you did."

White, of Bagillt, Flintshire, was told her "behaviour shows an enormous level of naivety" as she was sentenced to a nine months in prison, suspended for a year. She was also ordered to complete 10 days of rehabilitation, 200 hours of community service and pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs.

The ECHO previously reported how Hamid, nicknamed "Badger" because of a white streak in his hair, led a gang that supplied drugs in North Wales.

The group was said to have "made thousands of pounds out of the misery of others" and spent the profits of the illicit venture on spa days, holidays and trips to Chester Races.

"Badger" orchestrated the sale of heroin and crack cocaine, recruiting other members of the gang from Liverpool and North Wales to deal on his behalf. The gang was caught when officers raided a house in Bagillt and caught Hamid and his lieutenants resupplying the operation.

The leader was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in October 2020, with the presiding judge describing the operation as "relentless, arrogant and determined to exploit vulnerable clients for greed".

Blackburn was jailed as part of the investigation into the encrypted EncroChat messaging platform. Identified as the user of the "super.biking" phone handle, he was said to have worked with fellow Kirkby man David Pinnington, who went by "loftyhail", and others to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis across the Merseyside area. He was jailed for 11 years in December 2021.

What's behind having to release some prisoners early?

 The government has changed its plan to release thousands of offenders in England and Wales well before the end of their sentences in an attempt to make space in prisons.

People sentenced for rape, serious child sex and grooming offences will now not be eligible for early release from October.

But some prisoners who are not excluded could be freed after serving a third of their total custodial sentence rather than after 40% or 50% of their term.

This is not the first time a government - Conservative or Labour - has had to release prisoners early to make space in England and Wales' overcrowded prisons.

BBC Verify has looked at the reasons why ministers feel the need to resort to these measures.

More prisoners than prison space

The prison population in England and Wales on 3 August was 86,495, external, which was 97% of useable capacity.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has warned the prison population will overtake capacity as soon as this November.

In the long-term the MoJ has projected that the capacity of all prisons will rise to around 99,000 by 2032 as a result of more prisons being built by this government.

But it also projected that the prisoner population would rise to about 104,000 by 2032 if the Sentencing Act 2026 - which provides for earlier release - did not come into force.

That is why new Justice Secretary Alex Norris says there is a "prison capacity crisis" which means the government has to implement the latest early release scheme.

Norris has said that 5,000 prisoners are now due to be released from October - down from 6,000 due to the new exclusions.

The MoJ has projected that the Sentencing Act will mean the prisoner population remains below the capacity of the prison system, rising only to around 96,000 by 2032.

More people are being sent to prison for longer

The England and Wales prison population has risen significantly in recent decades with a significant uptick starting in the 1990s before reaching a record high in 2024.

The Institute for Government (IFG) think tank says this is partly the result of longer sentences.

In 2023, the average prison sentence at Crown Courts in England and Wales - which deal with more serious offences - was more than 25% longer than those handed down in 2012.

For some crimes, the increase was greater. Sentences for robbery in 2023 were 13 months longer on average than in 2012 - an increase of 36%.

Longer sentences mean more people being held in prison at any one time.

Former Conservative Justice Secretary David Gauke, who led an independent sentencing review for Sir Keir Starmer's government, argues this is the result of a "bidding war" by political parties since the 1990s over who can imprison people for longer.

Gauke also points out that the prison population has been rising at a time when overall crime in England and Wales has been falling, according to the official Crime Survey.

So despite the fall in crime more people are being sent to prison - and for longer.

Another reason for upward pressure on the prison population is that more people than before are being returned to prison for breaching the conditions of their release.

There were 51,419 licence recalls in England and Wales in the year ending March 2026, up from 40,259 in the previous year - a 28% increase.

Cassia Rowland from the IFG said most recalls are for breaches of licence conditions, such as missed appointments, rather than offenders committing further offences or posing a serious risk to the public.

"The probation service is overwhelmed, with high caseloads and lots of vacancies putting often inexperienced staff under huge pressure," she said.

Slow pace of prison building

Successive governments have pledged to increase the number of prison places - but delivery has often fallen short of those promises.

Between 2010 and 2024, when the Conservatives were in power, around 13,000 new prison places were created.

But around 12,500 places - notably those built during the Victorian era - were closed after falling into disrepair.

That means an estimated net total of only around 500 new prison places were added over 14 years.

In a 2024 report, the National Audit Office (NAO) cited the MOJ's "unrealistic timelines", and government bodies not working together to prioritise delivery, as reasons for the slow pace of prison building.

Although three new prisons have opened in the past four years - adding approximately 5,000 more places - further expansion to existing prisons has been delayed by a major supplier going into administration, according to the Prison Reform Trust.

Pia Sinha of the Prison Reform Trust told BBC Verify: "Successive governments have found it difficult to increase prison capacity because new prisons take years to plan and build, often facing planning hurdles and local opposition."

The Labour government has pledged to build 14,000 new prison places by 2031. The MoJ told BBC Verify that it had delivered about 3,200 places as of July.

However, it has not said how many prison cells have been taken out of use so we cannot say whether there has been a net gain or loss of spaces.

Analysts argue that without a major change in thinking about the appropriateness of prison as punishment, or a significant long-term increase in prison building, the system in England and Wales will remain close to capacity.

And that means governments will continue to be under pressure to implement early release schemes to avert a capacity crisis.

Female prison officer who wrote love poems to prisoner is jailed

 A 44-year-old woman has been imprisoned after a court heard that she wrote love poems to a prisoner at HMP Channings Wood, where she worked.

The woman, a mother of three, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and was given a six-month sentence.

The court had heard she had developed a secret relationship with the man, who is serving an indefinite sentence for a sexual offence, while she was supervising him. Whilst the Judge accepted there had been no physical contact between them, she had written him to him on numerous occasions, gave him Valentine’s cards, and written him love poetry with sexual references.

The prison suspected that there was an improper link between them, and so he was transferred to another prison in January 2023. However the woman continued to keep in contact with him, including by using unregistered mobile phones and by listing a false name on the prison contact list, whilst claiming to be a relative of his. The prison then recorded conversations referring to their professed love for each other.

A search of her house by police found her hidden mobile phones, and she was arrested and charged. The judge told her that, despite there being no physical relationship, their affair was highly sexual and that, despite learning she is now remarried, six months’ incarceration was appropriate.

Fifth Five Wells woman officer sentenced over fling with an inmate

 A female former prison officer has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, having admitted to an affair with a prisoner at HMP Five Wells where she was working. 

The woman was 22 when she began working in the prison, and had been in the job for just three months when the relationship began.

Part of her job was to carry out welfare checks on the man, and in 2023 a mobile phone was found in his cell with over 660 messages between them, many very intimate. There was also evidence of 20 phone calls they shared, one of which lasted for over an hour.

The woman admitted sending him explicit photos and kissing him within the jail. She was dismissed in May 2023. In court, she pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office. 

The judge at Northampton Crown Court said that he took into account evidence that she had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), but that a custodial sentence was appropriate. He said he was suspending it partly due to her illness and partly because she had waited three years for the sentence to be passed and had committed no other offences. She is also required to undertake 50 hours of unpaid work and has been referred for mental health support.

She is the fifth woman officer from Five Wells to have been convicted over illicit relationships with prisoners within less than two years. Three of the earlier cases had seen the women imprisoned, and another had a suspended punishment. In a headline reporting the latest conviction, the Northamptonshire Telegraph dubbed the prison ‘HMP Five Girls’. The 1,700-capacity men’s prison near Wellingborough opened in 2022 and is managed by G4S.

Female officer at HMP Belmarsh accused of inappropriate relationship with prisoner

 A 30-year-old woman appeared in court last week charged with having an “inappropriate relationship” with a male prisoner while working as an officer at high-security Belmarsh prison.

The woman appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on 11 May, charged with misconduct in a public office between August 1 and September 5 last year. She spoke only to confirm her name, age and address. No details of the alleged relationship were heard in court, but the name of the prisoner involved was reported in media coverage of the case.

She was not asked to enter pleas and she was released on conditional bail.

The woman was reported to have held a senior role at Belmarsh, responsible for helping prisoners to find jobs after release. She was also reported to have been the director of two companies, one now dissolved.

Sixth officer at Five Wells charged over relationship with prisoner

 A sixth female officer at HMP Five Wells has been charged with criminal offences over claims she had an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.

The 23-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of misconduct in public office and two counts of taking or sending a photograph or sound recording inside a prison without permission. The offences are said to have taken place between May and November 2024.

The woman is scheduled to appear at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on June 25.

Since G4S-run Five Wells opened in 2022, five other female staff have been convicted over illicit relationships with prisoners – leading a local newspaper to dub the jail ‘HMP Five Girls’. One was jailed for three years, two received 12-month sentences, and two got suspended sentences. The category C men’s prison is in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, and holds xxx men.

Jail time for people who smuggled contraband into prison

 

In three separate cases, people have been convicted or sentenced for smuggling contraband into men’s prisons in England.

In the first case, a prisoner who formed an illicit sexual relationship with an officer at HMP Five Wells and encouraged her to smuggle drugs, tobacco and mobile phones into the jail for him had his sentence extended. The woman was aged 18 when she began working at Five Wells in July 2024, and she was arrested only five months later. In January this year the man was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, but the sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal as ‘unduly lenient’, and the appeal court increased it to five years. The new term will begin when the man’s present sentence ends in 2029.

In the second case, three men have been convicted of attempting to convey SD cards and USB sticks into HMP Lindholme. On 16 May 2023, prison officers discovered a bread bag with illicit items in it in the yard of the prison. The bag had been delivered by drone. The SD cards were examined and found to contain Islamic material of an extreme nature. The case was extensively investigated by specialist officers at Counter Terrorism Policing Northeast and prosecuted by the Yorkshire and Humberside Complex Casework Unit. The three will be sentenced at the end of July.

The third case involved two men who flew a drone over a prison to drop off drugs. Police responded to a drone incursion at HMP Lowdham Grange on 5 September 2023. CCTV footage showed a package being dropped into the grounds shortly after 4pm. Prison staff recovered the package and found it contained cannabis resin, deal bags and larger bags of cannabis, and a mobile phone. The two men were identified and arrested, and each received sentences of two years and three months.

More female prison officers admit illicit relationships

 In two unrelated court cases, female prison officers have pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office after they formed illicit relationships with prisoners.

At HMP Buckley Hall, two brothers imprisoned for drug dealing each entered into relationships with women working as prison officers. The women, aged 25 and 27, appeared together in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on 23 June. Both pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. No further details of the relationships were given, but the offences took place between January and April 2024.

The brothers, who appeared via videolink, are accused of entering into the relationships and encouraging and assisting in the commission of misconduct in public office. They were due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on July 7.

The women are due to be sentenced on 7 August. Whilst they had their bail extended, the judge warned them this is no indication of the sentence they are likely to receive.

In a separate case, a 29-year-old woman was sentenced to 16 months in prison for a relationship that started in October 2022 while she was a prison officer at HMP Whitemoor. It was discovered in spring 2023. Staff became suspicious of her behaviour at that time, and her mobile phone was seized showing messages between her and her lover. She too pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.

Trans inmates leaving women's prisons following court ruling

 Transgender prisoners are being moved to jails according to their biological sex, after the Scottish government confirmed it would not appeal a legal ruling.

On Friday, Lady Ross ruled that Scottish Prison Service (SPS) guidance allowing transgender prisoners to be held in jails for the opposite sex was unlawful based on a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in equality law.

First Minister John Swinney confirmed the Scottish government would not appeal a court judgement that prisoners must be housed according to their biological sex.

For Women Scotland (FWS), the campaign group that brought the case to court, said they were pleased the government had "accepted the inevitable".

Justice Secretary Neil Gray said the government accepted the ruling and work was now underway to implement the transfer of prisoners.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) withdrew its transgender policy, first implemented in 2014, on Monday. 

For Women Scotland was also responsible for challenging the Scottish government at the Supreme Court in April 2025.
The court was asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Scotland, England and Wales.

The court was asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Scotland, England and Wales.
It ruled that the terms "woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex".

The group then took the Scottish government through a judicial review, saying only prisoners born biologically female should be held in the women's estate.
Lawyers for the government had argued this would breach transgender prisoners' human rights.

Lady Ross said the official guidance was "in conflict with the requirement that prison accommodation be provided separately for men and women" and constituted "a mis-statement of the law".
She said: "In all the circumstances, the prisons guidance is unlawful."

'Clear focus on safety'
Swinney said legal arguments over where trans prisoners should be housed had involved a "complicated interaction" of the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Speaking on Tuesday, he said: "Those issues are intensely complex, which is why this issue has been resolved by the Court of Session."
But he said said ministers had concluded "that we should not appeal this judgement" when the issue was considered by cabinet on Tuesday.

However, he refused to apologise for contesting the case, saying: "Sometimes these issues have to be challenged in court to establish the certainty that is required."
Announcing the move, Gray said ministers had given "careful consideration" to the issue following the ruling, including a risk of suicide.

"The Scottish government frequently has to make difficult decisions which balance the different interests and rights of individuals, often in complex situations, and this was one such situation," he said.
"The focus now moves to implementing the law, as clarified by the court, maintaining a clear focus on the safety, well-being and rights of all those living and working within Scotland's prisons," he added.

An earlier review following the conviction of transgender rapist Isla Bryson - previously known as Adam Graham - led to transgender prisoners being initially placed in jails according to their birth sex.


Male-born transgender inmates have been allowed to be incarcerated with women on a case-by-case basis

Susan Smith, a director at For Women Scotland, said they remained "horrified" that SPS ever thought its policy of putting males in women's prisons was "morally justified, let alone lawful".
"Sadly, the statement issued by the minister focused on the men who are to be moved, with no reference to the women who have suffered under this iniquitous policy and who deserve a fulsome apology and an acknowledgement of the harm and trauma they suffered," she said.
She added: "We are pleased that the government has accepted the inevitable and will be moving these men out of female prisons.
"The government must now reflect on the corrosive effect publicly funded lobbyists have had on single-sex provision who operate with no understanding of law and who have now cost the tax-payer millions."
'Vulnerable women prisoners at risk'
Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Conservatives' equalities spokeswoman, said the SNP had been "dragged kicking and screaming to finally do the right thing and apply the law".
"Male-bodied prisoners should have been removed from the female estate immediately following the clear ruling from the Supreme Court in April 2025," she said.
"Male-bodied prisoners should have been removed from the female estate immediately following the clear ruling from the Supreme Court in April 2025," she said.
"Instead, out-of-touch SNP ministers wasted more taxpayers' money fighting a court case that was doomed from the start, and their reckless decision continued to put vulnerable women prisoners at risk."
She added that the "humiliating climbdown"should "signal the end for Nicola Sturgeon's extreme gender self-ID policy" that "polluted Scottish public life for far too long".
She called on John Swinney to confirm that every government body would guarantee women access to single-sex spaces