CLAIMS HULL PRISON WORKER SMUGGLED IN KFC AND DRUGS FOR INMATE LOVER
STAFF MEMBER IS UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER SEX SESSIONS AND SMUGGLING
A PRISON worker at HMP Hull is under investigation after being accused of smuggling KFC meals and Spice into jail, as well as allegedly sleeping with an inmate.
An ex-con who spent ten months inside the Hedon Road prison, before being released earlier this month, alleges the employee and unnamed inmate used to meet up for sex sessions in a disused room within the prison.
He also claims the member of staff would bring in mobile phones, Class A drugs and takeaway meals for the inmate.
“They were bringing in money, drugs, Spice, everything for this one inmate,” he said.
“The two were having sex and they would use a room which was empty. It was unbelievable. I was totally shocked when I found out.”
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that a worker
employed by the prison is subject to an investigation.
A spokeswoman said: “We never tolerate inappropriate behaviour by prison officers and where there is any evidence of wrongdoing we investigate and work with the police to bring prosecutions.”
The prisoner ended up behind bars after breaching a restraining order and he was kept on remand until the summer ahead of his court hearing, before pleading guilty and serving an extra two months.
The dad had never been behind bars before, but he landed a role helping other inmates to read and write.
He claims Spice, cocaine, hash and pregabilin tablets were brought in by the worker.
“The officer knew that I knew what was going on,” he said. “They were having sex every day and the prisoner is quite a well-known figure in the Hull area.
“The prison officer was meeting up with the inmate’s friends on the outside. They used to bring a KFC bucket into the prison and leave it in the kitchen up in resettlement, where staff keep their lunches. Then he would just go in there and get it.”
After news of the allegations were reported in August, the worker was suspended and an internal investigation was launched.
The inmate says he was interviewed in HMP Hull about the allegations and never saw the employee at the centre of the investigation again.
He said: “I spoke to a prison officer in confidence and I was suspended from my job in the prison. The guy who was getting all the drugs and phones smuggled in for him was sent down the block and put in isolation.
“I believe the officer was suspended because they never came back and I never saw them again.”
Along with HMP Humber, HMP Hull has been earmarked as one of the most challenging prisons in the UK. Both of the jails are set to be part of a new project that will fund drug-sniffing dogs and scanners to detect drugs being smuggled inside.
They were chosen due to high drug use and violence on the wings, with staff set to be trained to “set the highest expectations of prisoners and challenge disruptive and violent behaviour fairly, consistently and firmly”.
The scheme will be up and running by the end of the year with the Ministry of Justice expecting results in the following 12 months.
Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said: “With more than 20,000 prison officers, 84,000 prisoners, and more than 100 prisons, it is vital we set challenging standards so prisons are places where offenders can turn their lives around.
“With the right leadership on the ground, and support from the centre, these ten prisons will pave the way for a new approach, a new ethos and a new direction.