Lincoln prison officer jailed for 'inappropriate' relationships with two inmates
A prison officer has been jailed for 14 months after having "inappropriate relationships" with two HMP Lincoln inmates.
Emma Webster was found out when colleagues recognised her voice on an intimate phone call, and found a photo of her in underwear in an inmate's cell.
The 34-year-old admitted misconduct in public office today (26 October), for sharing more than a hundred forbidden phone calls, letters and photographs of a sexual nature, accepting gifts and smuggling unknown items into the prison.
Webster from Ermine East in Lincoln, had relationships with inmates Bradley Brammall and Jimmy Bennett between August and November 2021.
The court heard that there is no evidence of any physical sexual contact, but her misconduct included "unauthorised contact" with prisoners outside of work duties.
Webster shared 17 phone calls with the A-wing inmate Brammall and smuggled an unknown package into the prison for him.
Prosecutor Lauren Fisher said an investigation began after a new phone number under the name of "Emma Smith" appeared on Brammall's prison list of contacts.The prison began listening to the conversations and recognised the caller's voice as Webster.
The court heard the pair talked about "having sex" in several phone calls, including one when Webster was walking her dog.
The relationship broke down on the 6th October, after Webster met a mutual friend of Brammall's.
Eight days after Webster's contact with Brammall ended, she swapped to doing night shifts and began another inappropriate relationship with C-Wing inmate, Jimmy Bennett.
Prison staff noticed Bennett was then frequently pressing his cell buzzer.
Webster shared 75 prohibited phone calls with Bennett. In letters to him, the prison officer signed herself off as "your future wife," and a photo of Webster in her underwear was found when staff searched his cell.During police interview, Webster initially claimed that she was only being friendly with Brammall, but admitted having a non-sexual relationship with Bennett.Neil Sands, mitigating, said Webster had co-operated with the investigation and urged the Judge to pass a suspended sentence.Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told Webster she accepted her behaviour was for 'affection rather financial gain'.
She went on to say 'It is clear your were chasing, rather than just being manipulated. You had a position of trust as an operational grade prison officer at HMP Lincoln, a Category B prison. In that prison you misconducted yourself by first having a relationship with one prisoner, and then another'.
The Judge did not pass a suspended sentence and said: "A sexual relationship with a prisoner leaves staff open to corruption."