Prison officer had text affair with inmate on hidden phone
A PRISON officer started a text affair with an inmate by sending him messages on a secret mobile phone, a court has heard.
Shauna Cleary, 25, began a personal relationship with Kurt Jarman while working at HM Prison Parc in Bridgend, South Wales, which is privately operated by G4S.
Jarman, 22, was serving a 10-year sentence for attacking a 77-year-old with a Stanley knife, having forced his way into the man’s house in 2015.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Cleary gave her number to the prisoner and sent him messages on a contraband phone he had hidden in his cell. Prosecutor Joanna James said analysis revealed Jarman called Cleary in August last year, which was the catalyst for the relationship “gaining momentum”.
Cleary sent the prisoner two messages on October 1 but the content was not known. She was later arrested and her phone and laptop seized.
Sentencing, Judge Williams said the G4S prison officer had been “terribly compromised and vulnerable to being manipulated”. Cleary, from Pontypridd, South Wales, admitted misconduct in public office and was given a 16-week suspended prison sentence.
After he admitted possessing a mobile phone inside prison, Jarman was sentenced to a further six months.