Prison officer jailed for relationship with inmate

An "immature" female prison officer who had a relationship with a convicted murderer has been jailed for eight months.

Ellis Eyles was 21 and working at HMP Deerbolt, near Barnard Castle in County Durham, when she helped Mitchell Ingham, who stabbed a man to death in 2015, by telling him the whereabouts of a man he wanted to harm.

Their romance was discovered after officers conducted a routine cell search and found an illicit iPhone at the prison.

Eyles was jailed at Durham Crown Court earlier after she admitted a single count of misconduct in public office at a previous hearing.

Investigations found Ingham and Eyles contacted each other with messages and video calls.

Ingham asked about the whereabouts of another prisoner, saying he "will get him done in," Durham Crown Court heard.

Antonia Adie, prosecuting, said phone analysis revealed the pair had been in contact in June and July 2023, exchanging information such as phone numbers and addresses.

In one message, the court heard Eyles told the convicted killer: "Miss you xxx".

On another occasion, Ingham messaged her: "Phone me babe x".

In response to the text asking for the location of the inmate Ingham wanted to harm, Eyles told him he was in a segregation unit, the prosecution said.

Judge Richard Bennett, presiding, said: "It's clear you were in some kind of romantic relationship with this prisoner."

Robert Mochrie, defending, said Eyles was "immature" when she started at the prison and had only completed six weeks of training.

Half a day of that covered anti-corruption training, he said.

"What you have here is a person of hitherto good character who falls into serious error by virtue of manipulation of the criminal mind," Mochrie said.

He said Eyles, now 24 and from Darlington, had an "incredible work ethic" and was employed by a bank after she left the Prison Service.

Ingham, 25, was sentenced to nine months at a previous hearing for offences related to possessing and using a phone in jail.

He was previously jailed for the 2015 murder of Dominic Doyle in a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester.

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