Prison guards exploited by inmates who become lovers

Ministers have vowed to stamp out illicit affairs between prison staff and offenders amid a surge in the number of criminals caught exploiting relationships to smuggle contraband into jails.

The number of workers exposed for inappropriate relationships increased by 30 per cent since 2017 to more than 40 a year, according to data released under Freedom of Information laws.

During the same period, the number of female prison staff rose by 27 per cent to 15,000 – now accounting for 42 per cent of all staff – as part of a diversity drive.

A new counter-corruption unit has been set up to work with 20 dedicated police officers from regional organised crime units. They hope to identify and prosecute prisoners and staff whom they have enticed to bring in drugs, phones and weapons, and even help run their criminal empires behind bars.

Staff will receive specialist training to alert them to the tactics used by criminals to lure them into relationships, which can then lead them into being blackmailed to work for the gangs.

Smuggled goods carry a premium in jail, with a single phone worth £1,000 and an egg-sized pack of drugs worth up to £5,000.

Staff hotlines, including one by Crimestoppers for anonymous tip-offs, have been set up and are eliciting up to 60,000 reports a year, ranging from staff disclosing potential conflicts of interest to intelligence on suspected drug smuggling and corruption.

Increased external security, from X-ray scanners to sniffer dogs and airport-style baggage checks, means that criminals are thought increasingly likely to corrupt staff in order to smuggle in contraband, allowing them to maintain their outside criminal links.

In one of the unit’s first major successful investigations, officers in HMP Risley, Cheshire, caught a jailed gang leader who had struck up a relationship with a prison nurse to get her to smuggle in ketamine.

Daniel Doran’s criminal scam unravelled after a surveillance operation uncovered his relationship with Megan Woodham and one of his associates was stopped by police with 10kg of cocaine worth nearly £1 million.

He was also using her home as a “safe house” to store drugs for the multi-million-pound cocaine ring he ran from jail.

Woodham was jailed for six years, and the gang for a total of 36 years.

Elsewhere, three prison officers, who all worked at HMP Berwyn near Wrexham, were jailed for having affairs with inmates over four years. They were caught sending explicit photographs, having sex in cells and exchanging intimate phone calls.

Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, said that the Government would never tolerate the few officers who believed they were above the law and undermined the majority of staff who were “nothing short of heroes” for their “extremely tough and demanding jobs day-in, day-out”.

He said: “That’s why our newly-bolstered Counter-Corruption Team is working around the clock to root out and clamp down on those who undermine our exemplary service with their dangerous behaviour and ensure they face the strongest possible consequences for their crimes.”

The team has grown from 26 to 140 staff in a £125 million investment in prison security. On top of the “several hundred” investigations into suspect staff and prisoners sparked by the 60,000 pieces of intelligence, it also aims to prevent staff from engaging in corrupt behaviour by training them to spot the tell-tale tactics.

Insiders said that prisoners seeking to groom officers will target their weaknesses, whether personal such as debts, situational such as inexperience, or organisational if there is weak prison leadership. The criminal often tries to isolate the officer, making them feel they have a greater affinity with them than prison staff.

One source said: “It normally starts with the blurring of boundaries, small requests around being out of the cell for a bit longer or an extra breakfast pack.”

The grooming, which can take years, builds to getting the officer to do a favour that might not be illegal but breaches prison rules. From there, it can build to corruption.

As well as exploiting the relationships to bring in contraband, it could also be purely for “sexual gratification”, as was believed to be the case in HMP Berwyn.

Even information extracted from prison officers has a financial value in jail, such as names and addresses of staff or inmates, or release dates.

The counter-corruption unit has launched a poster campaign highlighting current threats to staff such as inappropriate relationships. It also urges them to be not afraid to come forward, whether to reveal a potential conflict of interest, such as a relative or old school friend who has been imprisoned.