Prison officer had secret relationship with inmate

A former prison custody officer has pleaded guilty to misconduct following a secret fling with a prisoner.

Jade Morris, 36, from Herefordshire, was discovered to be having a relationship with Jerome Nunes, 35, after a banned mobile phone was flung out of a prison window in October 2022.

Evidence later revealed the pair had been communicating over a six-month period at HMP Long Lartin, near Evesham, Worcestershire, between July 2022 and January 2023.

Morris pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday to wilfully neglecting to perform her duty in a public office, and assisting or encouraging a prisoner to commit an offence.

Nunes had previously pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' on 10 February to possessing and using an unauthorised mobile phone in prison.

He will be sentenced at the city's Crown court on 16 April, with Morris's sentencing planned for 3 June.

Georgina Davies from the Crown Prosecution Service said prison officers were expected "to act with integrity and always maintain clear professional boundaries".

"This case involved a sustained and deliberate breach of that trust," she added.

"Jade Morris knew that prisoners should not have access to mobile phones yet chose to engage in a prolonged relationship with Nunes, directly facilitating his criminal offending and undermining the security of the prison in which she worked."

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