A convicted fraudster jailed for a £100,000 scam claims she is pregnant with a baby fathered by a former prison officer who she met behind bars.
Serial scammer Charmaine McAllister, 39, has even claimed to police that she enjoyed passionate trysts with then prison officer Chris Ward during her incarceration at high-security HMP Peterborough.
Father-of-one Mr Ward – whose marriage to a fellow prison officer recently broke down – admits they had a torrid affair, even once apparently romping on a golf course.
But he is adamant that his affair with McAllister did not begin until after she was released and he had quit his Prison Service job so no rules were broken.
And Mr Ward, 29, has reported McCallister to police himself over her claims, leaving officers to pick over wildly conflicting accounts of the relationship to decide what really happened between the pair.
The extraordinary situation arose after McAllister was sent down to Peterborough two years ago after she had orchestrated a £100,000 fraud with so many victims that she was described by a judge as ‘one of the most morally bankrupt women’ he had ever encountered.
Peterborough, a privately-run Category-B prison, operated by Sodexo Justice Services, is the only dual purpose-built facility holding male and females in the UK.
Repeat offender McAllister told that she and Ward had known each other previously when she had served time at HMP Peterborough for a previous offence on her long rap-sheet for fraud.
But when she was jailed most recently, in November 2022, they became close and soon began sleeping together in the prison, she claims.
The pair bonded over a shared interest in fitness, having both previously qualified as gym instructors, and in around April 2023, she claims their relationship turned sexual.
‘We just clicked,’ McAllister told . ‘Because we were often left alone in the gym at lunchtimes, we’d go into the showers to have sex as there were no cameras there.’
But when we approached Mr Ward he furiously denied that they had any sexual liaisons whatsoever while she was in prison and he was working there.
And Mr Ward has branded his accuser ‘Baby Reindeer II’ – after the award-winning Netflix drama about a fantasist stalker – and has now complained to police that she has harassed and blackmailed him.
And he even queries whether McAllister – a serial liar – is even pregnant at all, saying: ‘I’m not even convinced there is a baby.’
Mr Ward left the Prison Service in February 2024 to work for a private firm running gym instructor courses, but his work still takes him into prison to train officers to become instructors.
Mr Ward’s ex-partner and the mother of his child also works at a prison – in the anti-corruption team, whose responsibilities include cracking down on illegal romps between inmates and staff. He says they split before he began consorting with the con woman.
McAllister claimed that when she was released in September 2024 she was soon in contact with Mr Ward and the pair began to see more of each other again, sometimes playing golf together – once, she claims, the pair even had sex on a golf course.
Mr Ward accepts that there was contact but insists it was McAllister who contacted him, looking for help finding work, before their affair began after they were both out of Peterborough.
Their relationship did progress and become sexual, he concedes, and in November, McAllister told him she was pregnant.
McAllister told that the pregnancy was accidental and she had contemplated having a termination.
Then in December she was briefly recalled to prison following an allegation of ‘bad behaviour’ over a rental contract, which she claims was based on a misunderstanding.
She said: ‘It was only when I had time back in prison over Christmas to do a bit of thinking, that I realised I wanted this baby, come what may.’
After she was released from prison a second time earlier this month, McAllister claims that Ward became colder and more distant with him after she announced her decision to keep the baby.
She then found he had changed his phone number. This left her hurt, she says, as she had showered him with gifts.
She claims she had given Ward around £4,000 in presents as well as cash only to be dumped.
‘I was taken to court for a proceeds of crime hearing, but I still had a few savings,’ she said. ‘I spent all of that on Chris and my friends said that I was stupid and he was taking advantage of me.
‘I bought him a set of Callaway golf clubs and even paid £800 for his car insurance. ‘
Earlier this month, after McAllister discovered that Ward had changed his mobile phone number without telling her, and that he had reported her to Lincolnshire Police for alleged blackmail and harassment.
When she was approach by police officers she made her own counter allegations of misconduct in public office over the claims of sex behind bars and made a separate complaint to HMP Peterborough, she says.
In the email to the prison headed ‘Christian Ward’, she wrote: ‘I would like to inform you that I have had to go to the police regarding an ex-officer I was in a relationship with whilst in prison and continued when out
‘He used me for what he could get, had money off me and loads of gifts. He even called me in the gym when I was an orderly in there.’
Last week, McAllister sent a text message to one of Ward’s family saying: ‘Let Chris know I am keeping the baby I had the 12-week scan last week. I won’t be contacting him again.
‘The baby will not know its dad and that’s on him. I won’t bother any of you again.’
Approached by , Mr Ward said of the baby: ‘I don’t even think it’s real. I don’t want to go into details, but from the intercourse we had, I’m 99 percent sure it’s impossible.
‘She is blackmailing me because she wants some form of relationship with me. She is just obsessed and relentless.
‘It’s gone on far too long and to be honest, the only outcome I really want is for her to leave me alone. It’s been described to me as “Baby Reindeer 2” many times.
‘I left the Prison Service in February 2024, Charmaine made contact with me in September 2024.
‘If I was still employed by the Prison Service, and she made contact with me after release and I responded – it would be considered gross misconduct and I would be sacked.
‘[But] as I was no longer working for the prison service and she had been released, I had done nothing wrong.
‘I had no idea how she felt about me when she was in custody and I was working there. She is fabricating a story with malicious intent.’
McAllister has clocked up 220 offences during a 21-year career as a fraudster, conning dozens of victims out of more than £100,000 since 2002 through a series of credit card scams while masquerading as a police officer, a bank worker, a soldier and even an advertising executive from Horse and Hound magazine.
The former grammar school pupil spent her stolen cash on luxury cars, cosmetic surgery, hotel stays and designer clothing – and in one incident stole money from her own mother.
Chester Crown Court heard in 2022 that she was arrested again after she defrauded three car dealerships by acquiring vehicles, including two BMWs, using stolen credit card details before quickly selling them for cash.
Inquiries revealed McAlister was on bail for other fraud offences at the time and had previously been to jail at least 16 times. She is currently banned from every equestrian centre in Britain after targeting horse riders attending village shows and dressage events.
Both sets of allegations have been reported to police.
The case comes shortly after that of female prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, jailed earlier this month after she was filmed having sex with an inmate at Wandsworth Prison, south London.
She admitted misconduct in public office and received a 15-month term.
An HMP Peterborough spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of the allegations, and are currently working with our partners and the Police to investigate the matter. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage.’
Lincolnshire Police have been contacted for comment.