Secret tattoo lands ‘flirty’ prison guard in jail

A PRISON officer’s affair with an inmate was discovered because she tattooed his cell number on her leg, a court heard yesterday.

Scarlett Aldrich, 22, had the figure inked on her upper thigh as a tribute to the prisoner who had been jailed for armed robbery.

Suspicions of an inappropriate relationship began in August 2019 when Aldrich and the convict, named in court as “Jones”, were seen chatting for up to two hours in the prison workshop.

A colleague spotted they were “being flirty” and police were alerted.

When interviewed, Aldrich denied the relationship with Jones, but a letter addressed to him, which contained a photograph of a tattoo, was intercepted by staff at HMP Full Sutton in east Yorkshire.

While Aldrich was in custody, a nurse carrying out an examination found the same tattoo on her upper left thigh.

She also wrote love letters to the convict and smuggled in a mobile phone and sim card, Hull Crown Court heard.

Jailing her for 10 months, 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.” Aldrich, of Sowerby, N Yorks, admitted misconduct in public office at a previous hearing.