A 29-year-old female prison officer, Toni Cole, has been sentenced to one year in prison for exchanging 4,369 flirtatious messages with an inmate at HMP Five Wells, a new “super-prison” in Northamptonshire.
Cole appeared before Northampton Crown Court, where it was revealed, she had also participated in 18 video calls with the inmate, during which the interactions were described as “sexualized or flirtatious.”
Additionally, the court heard that Cole sat on the inmate’s lap, kissed him, and even tipped him off about upcoming cell searches.
Her misconduct took place between December 9, 2022, and January 25, 2023, before prison authorities uncovered her actions.
Cole pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and was ordered to pay a £187 surcharge along with serving her one-year sentence.
She is the second officer in recent years to be convicted of misconduct at the same Wellingborough prison.
In a separate case last summer, 31-year-old trainee officer Rachel Stanton received a suspended sentence for engaging in a romantic relationship with inmate Edwin Poole, an armed robber.
Prison staff discovered intimate photos and a love letter in Poole’s cell, with CCTV footage showing the pair spending over an hour together in a prison storeroom.
