Eighteen female guards at a single jail have been fired for hooking up with inmates at a prison in North Wales. The forbidden relationships all happened at Wrexham's HMP Berwyn, Britain’s biggest prison.
The record figures, uncovered in Freedom of Information requests, come after three of the women ended up in court over the illicit flings, the Mirror reports. The relationships took place over the past six years at the privately run jail.
Jennifer Gavan was among the lovestruck guards. She accepted £150 to smuggle a phone into robber Alex Coxon’s cell and the pair were later caught swapping raunchy snaps via WhatsApp. Gavan pleaded guilty to misconduct and was sentenced to eight months behind bars.
Colleagues Emily Watson and Ayshea Gunn were also locked up after having flings with prisoners. Watson had a sexual relationship with drug dealer John McGee, who was serving eight years for causing death by dangerous driving. And probation officer Gunn hooked up with armed robber Khuram Razaq and exchanged “highly sexualised” photos and videos.
Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, blamed the flings on “the wrong kind of women” being hired. He said: “Staff being recruited don’t have face-to-face interviews… it’s all done on Zoom.
“A lot of people getting these jobs don’t have enough life experience and are susceptible to conditioning from prisoners. Your figures just prove what we’ve been warning the employer about for years.”
Since 2019, some 31 female officers in England and Wales have been dismissed for inappropriate relationships, Ministry of Justice stats show. They include one officer who had an inmate’s baby.
HMP Berwyn has previously been dubbed the UK’s “cushiest” jail after snaps emerged of hotel-standard digs. Cells have no bars on the windows and come with en suite bathrooms. Inmates also have TVs, laptops and phones.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “The majority of staff are hard-working and honest but we are doing more to catch the small number who break the rules.”
The record figures, uncovered in Freedom of Information requests, come after three of the women ended up in court over the illicit flings, the Mirror reports. The relationships took place over the past six years at the privately run jail.
Jennifer Gavan was among the lovestruck guards. She accepted £150 to smuggle a phone into robber Alex Coxon’s cell and the pair were later caught swapping raunchy snaps via WhatsApp. Gavan pleaded guilty to misconduct and was sentenced to eight months behind bars.
Colleagues Emily Watson and Ayshea Gunn were also locked up after having flings with prisoners. Watson had a sexual relationship with drug dealer John McGee, who was serving eight years for causing death by dangerous driving. And probation officer Gunn hooked up with armed robber Khuram Razaq and exchanged “highly sexualised” photos and videos.
Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, blamed the flings on “the wrong kind of women” being hired. He said: “Staff being recruited don’t have face-to-face interviews… it’s all done on Zoom.
“A lot of people getting these jobs don’t have enough life experience and are susceptible to conditioning from prisoners. Your figures just prove what we’ve been warning the employer about for years.”
Since 2019, some 31 female officers in England and Wales have been dismissed for inappropriate relationships, Ministry of Justice stats show. They include one officer who had an inmate’s baby.
HMP Berwyn has previously been dubbed the UK’s “cushiest” jail after snaps emerged of hotel-standard digs. Cells have no bars on the windows and come with en suite bathrooms. Inmates also have TVs, laptops and phones.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “The majority of staff are hard-working and honest but we are doing more to catch the small number who break the rules.”
