Prison officer had tattoo of robber’s cell number on thigh
She’s jailed after flirting with high-security inmate
A womAn prison officer was jailed yesterday after developing a ‘close relationship’ with an armed robber and having his cell number tattooed on her upper thigh.
Scarlett Aldrich, 22, whose mother and stepfather are both police officers, had received training about the obvious dangers of friendships with inmates.
But other officers noticed her being ‘very flirty’ with the inmate at maximum security Full Sutton prison, near York. She smuggled in a mobile phone and sim card for him, and also sent him a saucy photograph of the cell number tattoo.
She was caught out after the prisoner was found with the phone and sim card during an intimate search. The picture and love letters were found in his cell. A police examination of Aldrich revealed the tattoo on her body.
She admitted charges of misconduct in public office and bringing prohibited items into the jail. Sentencing her to ten months in jail at Hull Crown
Court, Judge John Thackray, QC, said: ‘You allowed yourself to be taken in by him. You put the safety and security of the prison in jeopardy.
‘This was a high security prison where mobile phones and sim cards can be used as currency, providing power, influence, and disrupting prison life. You breached the trust given to you.’
Judge Thackray said he had considered a suspended sentence ‘ because immediate custody would have a devastating effect on you and your loved ones’ but added that the ‘risk of harm was high’.
Aldrich, of Sowerby, near Thirsk, north Yorkshire, was 20 when the illicit relationship developed – which never became sexual.
Fellow officers became suspicious in August 2019 when
Aldrich and the inmate, named only as Jones, were seen chatting together for up to two hours in the prison workshop.
Ayman Khokar, prosecuting, said: ‘These visits became more frequent.’ A colleague spotted they were ‘being flirty’ and confronted Aldrich. mr Khokar added: ‘She was warned about what her behaviour looked like – but the defendant returned to the workshop and chatted with the prisoner.’
Prison bosses were alerted and jailers found the phone which included texts from Aldrich. on September 18, 2019, she was suspended and confessed to governors the relationship with Jones began when he offered to comfort her over a violent row with her ex.
Susanna Proctor, defending, underlined there was no sexual activity between the two and that Aldrich had no contact with Jones in his cell. miss Proctor added: ‘She understands that this man was not interested in her at all and was just using her to obtain that mobile phone.’
‘Power and influence’