I worked in one of UK’s toughest prisons – here is why so many female officers are caught romping with lags
PRISON guards are romping with inmates at record rates because the system is awash with inexperienced youngsters, an ex-officer says.
Recent years have seen dozens of UK prison staff sacked and some even jailed for launching into illegal trysts with lags.
Many have been fresh-faced recruits – often plucked straight out of college – busted bonking in cells and performing sex acts on inmates in broad daylight.
Incredibly, eighteen female guards at one Welsh jail were fired for hooking up with inmates, The Mirror reported.
It is an epidemic that has got “completely out of control”, says Neil “Sam” Samworth, a former prison officer of 11-years at Manchester’s sprawling Strangeways.
But the hardened jail veteran says he is not surprised in the slightest.
Speaking to The Sun, he explained: “Training and recruitment has never been ideal, but as they are now, they have no experience.
“They’ve got the youngest workforce ever. They are literally seeing kids on wings straight out of college aged 18, 19, 20.
“You’ve got a very inexperienced, young workforce and you’ve got a lot of lads locked up who have something that is really dangerous – it’s called charm.”
Sam says the result is inmates “playing” the often “very naïve” recruits through intimidation and manipulation.
“I do not know what people think they are expecting”, he said, as he warned lags aren’t just after casual sex, they also want a mule to smuggle for them.
It’s a story juries up and down the country are all too familiar with, as countless prison staff wind up in the dock.
In the last three years, Jennifer Gavan, 27, Ayshea Gunn, 27, and Emily Watson, 26 – all staff at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, Wales – were jailed for sparking relationships with prisoners.
Gunn, a criminology and psychology graduate, was jailed for one year in 2019 for her fling with “dangerous” inmate Khuram Razaq, 29.
SMUGGLING IN KNICKERS
She made a raft of sexual phone calls to Razaq before smuggling a pair of knickers in her bra for him as he served a 12-year sentence for conspiracy to rob.
A search of Gunn’s bedroom also revealed snaps of the pair kissing and hugging in her uniform along with mobile phone pictures taken in his cell.
Fellow officer Watson was jailed for a year after romping and performing two sex acts on John McGee in his cell, all on separate occasions.
While Gavan was jailed for eight months after being busted snogging and sending saucy Snapchat pictures to Alex Coxon, 25, before accepting a £150 bribe to smuggle in a mobile phone for him.
Around 500 staff at the prison have now been undergoing training in a bid to tackle corruption at the 2,100-capacity jail.
While over at HMP Parc in Bridgend, Wales, Ruth Shmylo, 25, is accused of an “inappropriate” relationship with “Romeo inmate” Harri Pullen.
Shmylo’s alleged five-month fling is said to have taken place between December and April 2021 at the 1,652-capacity slammer.
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She denies the allegations with Pullen, who was jailed for five years in 2019 over his role in a drug network that flooded South Wales with cocaine and heroin – her trial begins in September.
Prison nurse Elyse Hibbs, 25, later got involved with Pullen at the Category B prison between May and July 2021.
She had worked at the prison since September 2018 and met the inmate when she gave him medical treatment.
After concerns were raised over his behaviour, the prisoner was moved to HMP Manchester in May 2021 but the following month got his mum and pal to track down Hibbs on Instagram.
Hibbs – who was also working at HMP Manchester – gave them her number and over the next five months, they exchanged texts and calls.
The court heard Hibbs was “manipulated” and got in “too deep” with Pullen, who was later given an additional four years for smuggling a phone in his backside.
Hibbs wept as she was jailed for six months in October 2022 over her “flirtatious” phone calls with the lag.
While Master’s student Joanne Hunter is alleged to have had an affair, smuggled weed and a mobile phone for an inmate at HMP Forest Bank, in Salford, in 2020.
On Thursday, the 27-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and admitted bringing or conveying cannabis into the prison – she denied smuggling the phone.
Judge Rachel Smith, who ordered a pre-sentence report, warned her that “immediate custody is inevitable in cases like this” – she will be sentenced on April 25.
It comes as an investigation is currently underway after a prison worker at Hydebank Wood in Belfast allegedly had an affair with Samurai sword attacker lag Jamie Lutton who is serving nine years.
Ministry of Justice stats show that in the four years since 2019, some 31 female officers in England and Wales were dismissed for inappropriate relationships with lags.
They include one officer who had an inmates love child.
Now the experienced prison staff are gone and we’ve got all these youngsters, prisoners will play them
Neil Samworth, ex-Strangeways prison officer
And between January 2015 and March 2019, 32 male and female prison staff were fired for sexual relationships with prisoners.
19 of these were females with male inmates, seven were males with female inmates, and six cases were unaccounted for to prevent identification.
In that period, inappropriate relationships with a prisoner made up 64 disciplinaries while 174 cases were investigated, according to MoJ data.
Asked what is going on, ex-Strangeways Sam revealed: “When I was in the job we did have one or two staff who were reprimanded for inappropriate relationships [with prisoners].
“But lads I know that are getting out now tell me you don’t even have to approach staff, staff are approaching them saying ‘can I get you anything’.
“There’s that much drug smuggling and rings going on that you’ve got prisons with five or six staff involved and police are busting them.
“Now the experienced prison staff are gone and we’ve got all these youngsters, prisoners will play them.”
Sam said the flings are likely to have supercharged in number over the pandemic when lags were confined to their cells for up to 23-hours a day and it was easy for staff to be isolated with inmates.
RESPONSE
And asked how prisons deal with the scourge, he alleged the service has been known to use a system called getting “walked to the gate”.
The method is allegedly applied to staff who have either broken the laws or engaged in relationships with prisoners to “save embarrassment” and “is an easy way of getting rid of people”.
Sam explained: “They’re just going to look as having left the job, it will come in on the figures as people coming and going – you won’t even know what the truth of their departure was.”
The Ministry of Justice categorically denied “getting walked to the gate” is a method of dismissal used in prisons.
Responding to officer and inmate relationships, a Prison Service spokesperson added: “The vast majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest.
“But we are doing more than ever to catch and punish the small number who break the rules.”
Find out more about Neil Samworth here.