A female prison officer who was caught on camera having sex with an inmate in a store cupboard has been jailed for 16 months.
Shania Begum, 25, was found to
have slept with with Joshua Mulllings after striking up an 'inappropriate
relationship' while working at HMP Birmingham.
A court heard she used the
store cupboard to engage in 'play fighting, flirting, heavy petting and
penetrative sex' with the inmate at the Category B men's prison.
But their secret rendezvous
were uncovered when prison bosses became suspicious and installed a camera that
caught them in the act.
Begum, of Telford, Shropshire,
previously admitted misconduct in a public office and was jailed at Birmingham
Crown Court today.
Sentencing, Judge John
Butterfield said: 'As time went by you fell under suspicion and secret
surveillance cameras were set up in the store cupboard.'
'You and he repeatedly spent
time together in that store cupboard to be physically intimate, up to and
including penetrative physical acts,' he added.
'You were observed engaging in
consensual activity whilst on duty.' He said what she had done had a 'corrosive
effect' on the prison system.
Butterfield noted that it was
the prisoners' duty to keep the store cupboard tidy and one of those prisoners
included Mullings.
The court heard an
anti-corruption probe was carried out after prison intelligence led bosses to
believe she was having a relationship with the prisoner.
Daniel Oscroft, prosecuting,
said: 'At the time she was a prison officer at HMP Birmingham and had been from
December 3, 2018.
'The intelligence suggested
that then relationship was intimate and taking place within a store cupboard
within the prison.
'Cameras were placed within the
store cupboard and between September 22 and 29 2022 the defendant and Joshua
Mullings were observed engaging in sexual activity.'
The court heard the activity
also included Begum giving Mr Mullings oral sex on at least two occasions.
The footage also showed on some
occasions Begum's radio would go off, which she ignored, and she had also been
interrupted by other members of staff.
There was one time when she
could not be located for about an hour.
When she was arrested her phone
was seized and her internet browsing history revealed she had had an interest
in Mullings and media reports written about him.
Mr Oscroft said her conduct:
'Undermines confidence in the prison system, causes problems with prison order
and has an impact on the stability and welfare of the prison estate.'
Andrew Baker, defending, said
'She is of previous good character and almost at a loss to explain her conduct.
She is deeply remorseful.
Post a Comment