Female prison wardens having sex with inmates because young, inexperienced staff are being put in jails without being trained on how to reject the advances of pent-up male prisoners, a whistleblower has claimed.
Professor Ian Acheson, a former prison governor, has come forward to reveal that low-paid new recruits are being rushed through a training process which leaves them ill-equipped to properly deal with manipulative criminals.
Another insider told some female staff are so ill-prepared for the job that some turn up for a shift ‘glammed up’ with full make-up and even false eyelashes as if they are going for a night out.
And one inexperienced new female recruit even asked an older colleague ‘What do I do if I am attracted to a prisoner?’.
Prison officer, Ayshea Gunn with inmate Khuram Razaq in a cell at the prison. They exchanged more than 1,200 phone calls, including explicit video calls, and she smuggled her underwear into his cell
Gunn, left, was jailed for one year at Mold Crown Court in 2019 after having an affair with dangerous criminal Khuram Razaq, right, at HMP Berwyn in North Wales
Ayshea Gunn, 27, in handcuffs on her way to prison after being jailed for the illicit affair
A total of 18 female guards at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, North Wales, have been fired or have resigned for having illicit affairs with inmates
Professor Acheson’s warning comes after the Prison Service has been rocked by dozens of female warders being caught for having inappropriate relationships with criminals in jails where they are working in recent years.
The dangers of manipulative male prisoners was illustrated just last month when prison worker Ruth Shmylo, 26, from Pontypridd was prosecuted but then cleared after she revealed that she only had ‘phone sex’ with gangster inmate Harri Pullen after he made terrifying threats to harm her and her family.
And he claims that the real scale of the problem could be even worse than anyone realises – as many more offending officers are quietly disciplined for flings with prisoners than go to court so that the bulk of cases are hushed up and not publicly known.
Speaking exclusively to , Professor Acheson said: ‘I’m told by prison insiders that for every officer detected, many more are quietly required to resign without sanction. That will skew the already alarming figures.
‘The Prison Service is no place for teenagers in uniform, inadequately screened and poorly trained.
Prof Acheson, an expert in the UK’s criminal justice system and specifically the prevention of Islamist and right-wing radicalisation, blamed the current situation on the culmination of years of staff neglect – and said: ‘In modern law enforcement men and women work together across the criminal justice system and prisons are no different. Nor should they be.
‘However, effective relationships depend on suitable and sufficient officers properly trained and well led. None of these conditions are met in today’s prison services.
‘Emergency recruitment has thrown barely trained youngsters into the maw of disordered and violent prisons across the country. This sets the scene for exploitation and corruption by experienced offenders.
‘We’ve seen the results in the statistics, particularly the rising number of female officers who enter sexual relationships with prisoners. The Ministry of Justice may argue that the data suggests that surveillance by counter corruption teams is working.
‘I think that’s a poor defence.
‘Unless there is a fundamental improvement in recruitment, training, and supervision this behaviour will continue.
‘While an illicit relationship between a female officer and a prisoner might seem relatively harmless, the impact on victims and the danger to prison security is very real.’
And he blamed what he called ‘criminally stupid austerity cuts’ for reducing the number of experienced staff and replacing them with naive younger ones.
Elsewhere, prison staff on the ‘shop floor,’ who walk the dangerous corridors and walkways of the UK’s jails, say female prison officers have no idea what they are getting into when they start.
Craig Wylde, 41, a former guard at high security HMP Durham prison, said: ‘There is a problem with some younger female prison officers who turn up to work in full makeup, glammed up and even wearing false eyelashes and bangle earrings.
‘Governors make them remove the eyelashes and earrings because of health and safety, but they still go onto the landings of a male prison looking like they are on a night out. There is the constant fear that they are sending out the wrong message in a place full of men who are banged up for years and sexually frustrated.’
Jane, a former female prison officer with more than 20 years’ experience, told of trying to deal with a naive recruit asking her for advice if she fancied a serving prisoner.
She said: ‘What do you say to that? I was blunt. I asked her to think about whether being a prison officer was for her.’
Cases of inappropriate relationships between female warders and inmates range from having sex in cells, sending suggestive pictures of themselves, smuggling illicit goods into jail for their lovers and even having their children.
Prison nurse Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, (left) was jailed for six months for entering into a relationship with an inmate Harry Pullen (right) at HMP Parc in South Wales
Hibbs leaving court during her trial last year. She was later jailed for six months for the affair
Jane, in her 50s, who previously served in the Armed Forces, said that before retiring from the prison service she saw a startling change in the type of female entrant.
She said: ‘I trained with women in their 20s, most out of military service, who knew themselves and had the right attitude. They wanted a career.
‘Before I left, I saw some young women entering training that frankly I felt should not have been allowed out the house by their parents.’
She added: ‘I have had young girls crying on my shoulder and seen others walk off the job within weeks.
‘It is terribly difficult dealing with a self-harmer, blood everywhere or a suicide whatever your age. At 20-years-old, it’s almost impossible.’
Figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published last year revealed that across the prison system, officers caught having affairs with inmates were found to have hit a record high, with 36 warders sacked for them since 2019.
Some 31 female prison officers and five male warders were dismissed for misconduct in this period – almost double the 19 female staff sacked during the previous four years.
Significantly, the figures do not show how many similar incidents were recorded at the 14 private prisons, run by companies such as G4S, Serco and Sodexo.
At the same time, latest figures from the MoJ revealed that as of last September female prison officers now represent 42.1 per cent of the workforce.
In five years, the number of female officers working in prisons has risen by 3,519 – a surge of nearly 28 percent.
The latest totals showed 16,199 females were employed, compared to 22,309 male.
Jane claimed that a ‘watering down’ of the recruitment process had resulted in less suitable candidates being given jobs. At some jails, more than one in four posts are vacant.
Corners being cut in the recruitment process include holding interviews on Zoom, as opposed face-to-face, which makes it harder to ‘gauge character’ and reducing the training period for prison officers from 12 to eight weeks.
Joanne Hunter – described as ‘naive’ and ‘vulnerable’ in court – believed inmate Connor Willis was ‘in love’ with her and agreed to smuggle packages, including cannabis, into prison for him
Aisha Golsby, 23, was working at HMP Portland in Dorset when she became involved with convict Deano Harrison, 21 – and warned him before cell searches
Golsby was jailed for 16 months last year at Bournemouth Crown Court over the relationship
She said: ‘Eight weeks training did not prepare them for their first day on the wings and the job took a tremendous emotional toll.
‘But let me make it clear that the vast majority of young, female recruits are doing a fine job under intense scrutiny and pressure.
‘However, the statistics don’t lie, and it is apparent that a small number make the life changing mistake of falling for a prisoner they should be locking up.’
Mr Wylde said that rules should be changed so that both male and female officers should not be allowed to join the service ‘until their mid-20s to ensure they have some life experience.’
And he added: ‘There is a feeling that some graduates are joining just to pay off their Student Loans and don’t have the desire to do the job. They are bright, but that isn’t enough.’
Among the cases that have come to light, the majority are from HMP Berwyn in Wrexham where an astonishing 18 female guards or other female staff have been fired for illicit relationships with male inmates since 2017.
This includes Jennifer Gavan, 27 who was jailed for eight months in December 2022 following her relations with prisoner Alex Coxon, 25.
She had sent intimate photos of herself to Coxon on Snapchat and kissed him during the relationship between April and July 2020.
Gavan, from Wrexham, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public a public office at Mold Crown Court after she accepted £150 to bring in the mobile phone.
The relationship came just one year after fellow officer Ayshea Gunn, 27, had a fling with ‘dangerous’ inmate Khuram Razaq, 29.
She was subsequently jailed for one year at Mold Crown Court in 2019.
Officer Emily Watson, 26, was jailed for one year in April 2019 at the same court for performing a sex act on an inmate in his cell.
Emily Watson (left) was jailed for one year after she performed a sex act on inmate John McGee (right). McGee was serving an eight-year sentence for the hit-and-run death of a charity worker
Watson, 26, was jailed for a year in April 2019 over the fling with the inmate at HMP Berwyn
The pair had ‘virtual sex’ over FaceTime, while CCTV footage showed she had visited McGee’s cell alone three times. Pictured: McGee gestures after leaving Mold Crown Court in handcuffs
Roxanne Walker, 34, another female guard at the 2,100 medium-risk category ‘C’ facility, dubbed ‘Britain’s cushiest’ received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years after engaging in ‘sexually explicit’ chats with an inmate.
Cases at other prisons of female warders crossing sexual boundaries includes that of Corinne Redhead, 29 who had an inmate’s baby following a secret year-long fling and was jailed for nearly two years in November 2022.
She entered the clandestine relationship with O’Connor, who was serving a ten-year sentence, while working at The Mount Prison in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire – an all men’s prison.
Aisha Golsby, 23, was working at HMP Portland in Dorset when she became involved with convict Deano Harrison.
She was jailed for 16 months last year for tipping him off about a cell search.
Joanne Hunter, 28, was jailed for three years for her relationship with Connor Willis while she was working at HMP Forest Bank in Salford.
Hunter – described as ‘naive’ and ‘vulnerable’ in court – believed Willis was ‘in love’ with her and agreed to smuggle packages, including cannabis, into prison for him. She also sent him explicit photographs, which were later found on her phone.
Prison nurse Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, was jailed for six months for having a fling with jailed drug dealer Harry Pullen at HMP Parc in South Wales.
Married Victoria Laithwaite, 47, was caught sending prisoner James Chalmers, 30, messages which suggested a relationship between the pair while he was banged up.
She was working as head of safer custody and equalities when the texts were discovered on a mobile phone found inside the prisoner’s cell at HMP Onley.
Sources within the prison system spoken to by also claim that equalities legislation first introduced in the 1980s which led to a drive towards mixed sex staffing of both male and female prisons has also contributed to the crisis, along with poor training and a rush to recruit.
One senior prison manager, who did not want to be named said: ‘It is irresponsible to employ 18-year-old girls straight from school. They are ripe to be groomed by men three times their age who know the system.
Jennifer Gavan, left, was jailed for eight months after she smuggled a mobile phone into the prison for her lover Alex Coxon, right. She sent Coxon intimate photos over Snapchat
Gavan (pictured) pleaded guilty to misconduct in public a public office after she accepted £150 to bring in a mobile phone to the prison where she was working
‘I am just surprised we haven’t had more instances of inappropriate relationships.’
For Jane, who has witnessed the crisis first-hand, the increase in inappropriate sexual relationships between female warders and male inmates may also be down to deeper psychological reasons.
She said: ‘Most normal people will ask how the hell they make this jump? Don’t they understand they will ruin their lives?
‘Well, in my experience, some do realise the risk, but, for whatever reason, are willing to put themselves in that position. Maybe it’s just excitement?’
Experts who have studied the phenomenon have also pointed towards more underlying reasons for the worrying trend.
Kamalyn Kaur, a Psychotherapist and Anxiety expert with over 10 years of experience providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) told that some women can find themselves powerless to stop themselves being drawn to unsuitable partners due to how the brain works.
She said: ‘There are certain traits associated with ‘bad boys’ such as confidence, risk-taking and assertiveness that would have been seen as advantageous in the past in terms of evolution. It suggests adventure and opportunity.
A prisoner eating a meal in HMP Berwyn on March 15, 2017 in Wrexham, Wales (stock image)
A cell at HMP Berwyn in a photo from 2017 – rooms all have a phone for outgoing calls
‘These are people that have not conformed to societal expectations and pressures and that can give off an allure of ‘bad boy’ energy.’
She added: ‘If you are someone who usually follows the rules, and quite ‘textbook’ then that whole allure of being with someone who is rebellious can give you tunnel vision suddenly. That person might represent everything you want to be but can’t be.’
A spokesperson for the Prison Service said: ‘The overwhelming majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest and their professionalism and expertise should not be called into question because of the illegal actions of the small number who aren’t.
‘We are doing more than ever to catch the minority who break the rules, including bolstering our Counter-Corruption Unit with 140 new staff and strengthening our vetting processes to root out misconduct.’