Officer 'prayed' to have inmate's babies - court

A prison officer who struck up a "romantic and intimate" relationship with an inmate told him she was "literally praying to have your babies", a court has heard.

Charlotte Winstanley, 27, also smuggled a range of contraband material into HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, for prisoner Jabhari Blair, 30, including a mobile phone which they used to send intimate photos and videos.

Sheffield Crown Court was told that in one message, Winstanley, of Coronation Road, Doncaster, told Blair: "I love my job, but I love you more."

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told the defendants he would sentence them on Monday, adding it was "arguably the worst case" of its kind he had dealt with.

Winstanley had previously admitted misconduct in public office and transmitting a photograph from inside a prison.

Blair, who is a serving prisoner, but formerly from Leeds, had admitted possessing cannabis and prohibited items, namely a phone and a USB stick.

He was jailed for 12 and a half years for violence in 2014.

The court heard on Friday how messages uncovered between Winstanley and Blair described Mondays as their "date nights".

Prosecutor Aaron Dinnes told the court that prison cameras had picked up "intimate moments" showing them touching and disappearing together into rooms.

Dinnes said one message from Blair indicated that he "can't wait to give Miss Winstanley a beautiful baby".

One message from Winstanley read: "I'm literally praying to have your babies", while another stated: "Life starts now, baby. Every sacrifice I make I do so I can be with you."

The prosecutor said there was evidence Winstanley had passed Blair information about prisoner movements, other inmates' health care and a search of his own cell.

The court also heard that Winstanley went to see Blair's mother at her home in Leeds, and confided in her friend and colleague, Morgan Farr Varney, about her new "boyfriend".

Varney was herself jailed for 10 months last year after a relationship with an inmate at HMP Lindholme, which is a Category C jail.

Dinnes said that after Winstanley was suspended and Blair was moved to another jail, she had signed up as a visitor, with the relationship lasting about three years.

The court was told that Winstanley had finished her training as a prison officer in April 2022, but had previously worked at the prison as an operational support officer.

Khadim Al'Hassan, defending, said Winstanley was only 22 when she began work at the prison and had only had one boyfriend before, when she was 15 and at school.

Al'Hassan told the court that being a prison officer was a job that required maturity and life experience, which his client did not have, adding that employing her was a "recipe for disaster".

He said Winstanley was "deeply remorseful", but "wasn't really equipped with the skills and tools somebody would expect somebody in that position to have".

Judge Richardson said Winstanley would face "immediate custody", but that he wanted to consider the case carefully ahead of the hearing on Monday.

Winstanley cried in the dock as he said to her: "For a prison officer, young or old, to have conducted a sexual affair with a prisoner is bad enough.

"For it to be over a prolonged period of time worsens the matter.

"And, then, to be a party to smuggling in various items and to brazen it out when prison officials raise issues and give you an opportunity to confess - and it gets worse."

Meanwhile, Judge Richardson told Blair he had "corrupted a prison officer" and that was "about as bad as it gets".

The judge remanded both defendants in custody until next week's hearing.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North