Two more women ex-prison officers have appeared in court charged with misconduct, as the Ministry of Justice revealed that investigations into the offence had tripled over five years.
In the first case, a female prison officer accused of having sexual relationships with two inmates at once appeared at Southwark Crown Court on 23 May, with her case being sent for a full trial in October.
The 23-year-old allegedly had relationships with a prisoner aged 33 and another aged 28 while working at HMP Swaleside between September 2021 and December 2022. She is also accused of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the high-security Kent prison.
The ex-officer, who described herself as a “seasoned Prison Officer with two years of experience” and has a degree in criminology and law from City of Portsmouth College, was charged with two counts of misconduct in public office. In both counts, she is accused of having “an inappropriate sexual relationship with a serving prisoner”. She is also charged with conspiring with one of the men and others to “bring, throw or convey” drugs into Swaleside. Others charged in connection with the alleged crimes will appear later.
In a separate case, a former woman officer has been sentenced to eight years and six months in prison for smuggling drugs into prisons. The 32-year-old was described as having “a total disregard for the law” as she worked as an officer at HMP Aylesbury whilst committing the offences. She pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into prison and one of misconduct in a public office when she appeared in Aylesbury Crown Court on 3 June. The offences occurred between September 2018 and June 2022 when she conspired with two men to smuggle the illegal products into HMP Woodhill, HMP Springhill, and HMP Erlestoke. One of the men received four years and six months in jail, the other three years.
The woman officer arranged for others to throw the drugs over the walls of prisons, and for it to be collected by men already inside the jail once delivered. She was eventually suspected of criminal activity, and arrested.
A police spokesperson commented: “This woman had a total disregard for the law. She was organising drugs and contraband to be thrown into prisons for financial gain, and despite being arrested and released, continued to engage in the same activity. Her conduct has betrayed public confidence and hindered His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service Counter Corruption Unit’s efforts to rehabilitate offenders, all whilst she was employed as a serving prison officer. I hope this sentence demonstrates that anyone attempting to organise the supply of drugs into HMP establishments will be identified and prosecuted.”
Figures released by the MoJ show that the number of prisoner officers investigated over alleged inappropriate relationships has tripled in five years, from 51 in 2020 to 144 in 2024. The figures also show that there has been an increase of 86 per cent in officers smuggling contraband into prisons.
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