A disgraced prison officer who performed a sex act on a convicted robber was unmasked during a probe into another corrupt guard, can reveal.
Katie Evans, 26, embarked on an illicit romance with inmate Daniel Brownley while working at HMP Doncaster, even calling herself his ‘queen’ as she lavished him with attention.
The mother-of-one, who was jailed for 21 months yesterday, boasted about sex acts on the criminal and collecting drugs cash on his behalf.
Her criminal behaviour was exposed during an anti-corruption investigation into another crooked guard at the category B jail.
Rio Moran, 33, was recruited by gangsters to smuggle drugs and phones behind bars.
She managed to evade security measures due to her role, allowing her to sneak in contraband including Spice and the heroin substitute Subutex.
understands that during the investigation into Moran, police were informed of an inmate using an illicit SIM card to communicate with a rookie officer.
The device was seized from Brownley – who was serving five and a half years for robbery and burglary – revealing 140 calls between him and Evans, who was then aged 21.
Analysis of phone conversations between the pair revealed the extent of their relationship, with Evans ringing his number 39 times in one 11-hour period.
Some of their calls lasted as long as 49 minutes and a search of Evans’ home also uncovered a stash of love letters between the pair.
During their relationship, Brownley was transferred to another prison, at which point he absconded to meet her for an intimate encounter.
Sheffield Crown Court heard on Tuesday how Evans called herself ‘your queen’ while talking to Brownley during steamy calls.
She also boasted of collecting £1,000 in cannabis cash on behalf of the crook and passing on confidential prison information relating to him while working at the prison in 2020.
Evans, who admitted misconduct in a public office, sobbed in the dock as she was told by judge Jeremy Richardson, KC: ‘There must be a prison sentence. Corrupt prison officers must be punished. There is no question about that.
‘The public expects punishment for those who betray trust in the way that you did.
‘It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer, who has been branded a corrupt prison officer, but it must be done.’
Moran was aged 31 when she was arrested by South Yorkshire police after turning up for her shift at the privately-run prison in November 2020.
Officers raided her home and uncovered a haul of drugs and phones destined for convicted drug dealer John Millington.
Moran, from Sowerby, West Yorks, was sentenced to two years behind bars in 2022. She has since been released.
Evans, of Hatfield, South Yorks, who has a young daughter, formed an ‘intimate relationship’ with Brownley, using a false name to disguise her real identity.
Judge Richardson told her: ‘You described yourself to him as ‘your queen’. It appears that you indulged in some forms of sexual activity in the prison.
‘It has been described that there was one occasion when you had oral sex with him.’
Judge Richardson said her behaviour was a ‘serious manifestation’ of corruption that undermined public confidence in the prison system.
He told her: ‘You were manipulated by a serious criminal to assist him. Your misconduct materially affected the good order and discipline of the prison.
‘You not only had some form of sexual intimacy with the prisoner but you also assisted him in his conduct within the prison in terms of handling money for him and sharing prison information about him, with him.’
Judge Evans added: ‘Whether that was money relating to drugs or it was legitimate is neither here nor there. You are not permitted to handle the money of prisoners. You certainly boasted, whether it was true or not, that £1,000 connected to cannabis was handled by you.’
The court heard that Evans was ‘immature and vulnerable’ and had been easily manipulated by Brownley.
The judge reduced her sentence from two years to 21 months as an ‘act of mercy’ due to her young daughter.
Her daughter is being looked after by her former partner and family members, the court was told.
Detective Constable Scott Jarvis, who is part of our Prison Anti-Corruption Unit and was the officer in charge of this case, said: ‘The team gathered a significant amount of evidence confirming Evans’ criminality meaning she had no choice but to plead guilty to the misconduct offence.
‘Improper relationships between prison staff and inmates are rare but when they do come to light, we take these offences incredibly seriously.
‘This kind of behaviour brings shame on the profession and taints the reputation of other hard-working prison officers who uphold the highest standards of professionalism, morality and service.’
A Serco spokesperson said: ‘We have a zero-tolerance approach to any member of staff who fails to meet the standards we expect and on those rare occasions when one of our officers falls short of the required standards, we work closely with the police to investigate the issue fully and when necessary take appropriate action.’