Their sexualised exchanges were discovered during an IT check
Prisoner officer Beverley Frank(Image: Hull Live)
A female prison custody officer sent intimate and revealing pictures of herself to a prisoner – including some of her wearing red underwear – during a secret relationship with him. But their steamy sexualised exchanges were discovered after suspicions were aroused when sample emails were analysed.
The pictures were compared with photographs of female prison staff and they were matched to the officer involved, Hull Crown Court heard. Beverley Frank, 42, admitted an offence of misconduct in public office while working as a prison officer at HMP Millsike, a new men’s prison at Full Sutton, near Pocklington, between August 26 and September 21 last year.
Michael Masson, prosecuting, said that sample emails, text messages and telephone calls were analysed by the head of IT at the prison as part of monitoring the external communications of prisoners. On September 15, sample emails were examined from one prisoner as part of the monitoring.
They seemed to show that he had entered into a relationship with a woman supposedly known as “Jess Richardson”. The emails included pictures of her wearing red underwear and she had part of her face showing in the images.
She had a tongue piercing. There were also messages from a woman supposedly known as “Jess Love” who seemed to know about the processes inside the prison.
The head of IT approached a prison intelligence officer and handed over his findings. The pictures were compared with currently employed female staff and they matched Frank. The intelligence officer was given authority to monitor the prisoner’s telephone calls and a log was created of the calls between him and “Jess Love” – who, in reality, was Frank.
When she arrived at 8am for a work shift at HMP Millsike on September 20, she was met by the intelligence officer and a member of the security staff. She was kept away from other staff and was taken away to be questioned.
She was asked about her interactions with the prisoner and she at first denied any involvement outside of work. But she later said: “Do you know what? Yes, I have been doing it. I know it’s wrong.” Frank was arrested.
A mobile phone was seized and photographs were found on that. There was no suggestion that she had given a phone or drugs to the prisoner. She had a previous conviction for an unrelated offence.
Amber Hobson, mitigating, said that Frank pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. “She made admissions when she was confronted by staff about her behaviour and she has never tried to hide what she has done,” said Miss Hobson.
Frank, who has children, had cooperated well with the probation service and was suitable for being helped in the community rather than being jailed. “She does not excuse her behaviour,” said Miss Hobson.
“She is candid, upfront and she takes responsibility. She understands that the reason that she sits in the dock is the result of her own actions.
“She is able to acknowledge why she behaved the way that she did and the work that she needs to do on herself. This is not the type of offence where drugs or a phone were smuggled into prison.
“This is not a case of someone actively abusing a position of power. This is someone making an incredibly foolish mistake.” Frank admitted that she had been given training on the dangers of forming relationships with prisoners.
“She had training and she knows that what she did was wrong and that she ought not to have done it,” said Miss Hobson. “She is here and she wants to take full responsibility for that.”
Judge John Thackray KC told Frank: “All offences of this kind are serious. You formed a relationship with a prisoner at HMP Millsike. You were working as a prison custody officer, a trusted position.
“The forming of a relationship in these circumstances causes serious jeopardy to the safety and security of the prison and those within it, both inmates and staff. You accept that you would have, and did, receive training as to the dangers of forming such a relationship.
“I accept that your remorse is sincere and profound.” Frank, of Albany Road, Leeds, was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence, 100 hours’ unpaid work, 15 days’ rehabilitation and a one-year ban from contacting the prisoner. A deprivation order was made for her mobile phone.
“If you breach the order, it’s likely that you will have to serve the sentence of eight months,” said Judge Thackray.
Privately-operated HMP Millsike, in Moor Lane, Full Sutton, opened in March last year and was billed as the country’s first all-electric, eco-friendly prison. It is said to have capacity for 1,468 male resettlement prisoners.
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