Inmate sent messages by jail officer
A PRISON officer gave her number to an inmate and sent him messages on a phone he should not have had in his cell.
Shauna Cleary, 25, was working at HM Parc Prison in Bridgend when she developed an inappropriate relationship with Kurt Jarman.
Sentencing her at Newport Crown Court, Judge Daniel Williams said: “Such relationships undermine security within prisons.”
The court heard she was employed as a prison officer between August 2016 and November 2017.
Joanna James, prosecuting, said a mobile phone was found in 23-year-old Jarman’s cell on the T5 wing during a search on October 3 last year.
Officers found the phone and charger hidden inside his wash bag and seized the items.
Analysis revealed he made a call to Cleary in August last year and the court heard the relationship “gained momentum”.
Prosecutors said she sent him two messages on October 1, although there was no evidence about what they contained.
The defendant was arrested and her phone and laptop were seized.
She answered “no comment” to all the questions put to her in interview.
Jarman admitted possessing a mobile phone inside prison and was jailed for a further six months.
Cleary, from Oakland Terrace in Pontypridd, admitted misconduct in public office.
Jonathan Elystan Rees, defending, stressed his client had no previous convictions or cautions and asked for credit for her guilty plea.
He told the court she felt “regret and remorse” for her actions and asked for any jail term to be suspended, instead of immediate.
Judge Williams said Cleary was “terribly compromised” and vulnerable to being manipulated.
He told her: “You knew how inappropriate your relationship was.
“It undermines not only the confidence of prisoners in the integrity of staff, but it goes further and undermines public confidence.”
Cleary was given a 16week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity.