The recent scandal at Wrexham jail in North Wales has shed light on a form of prison mistreatment that is rarely discussed. It has come to light that eighteen female guards were fired for allegedly having inappropriate relationships with inmates, which has raised questions about prison reform in the UK and gender dynamics within correctional facilities.
The female correctional officers were fired after it was discovered that they were engaging in sexual intercourse and affairs with inmates. The chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, Mark Fairhurst, has blamed the situation on hiring “the wrong kind of women” for a job that requires discretion.
Fairhurst explained, “A lot of people getting these jobs don’t have enough life experience and are susceptible to conditioning from prisoners. Your figures just prove what we’ve been warning the employer about for years.”
Three of the female prison guards involved were Jennifer Gavan, Ayshea Gunn, and Emily Watson. Gavan was jailed for eight months because she had a sexual relationship with inmate Alex Coxon, which started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gavan had used Snapchat to send intimate images of herself to the inmate and later smuggled a mobile phone into the prison to contact him. She pleaded guilty to misconduct and was fined for smuggling the phone.
Gunn, on the other hand, had a sexual relationship with the “dangerous” inmate Khuram Razaq, for which she was jailed for a year. Photos were found of Gunn and Razaq kissing and hugging, taken on a mobile phone inside Razaq’s cell. Similarly, Emily Watson was jailed for a year in April 2019 for performing a sex act on an inmate inside his cell.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, since 2019, around thirty-one female officers in England and Wales have lost their jobs for having sexual relationships with inmates.
While the vast majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest, there is a small number who break the rules. The Ministry of Justice’s Prison Service spokesperson stated that they are doing more than ever to catch these rule-breakers.
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This scandal has raised important questions about the recruitment process for correctional officers, especially given the increasing use of remote recruitment via platforms like Zoom. The lack of face-to-face interviews may be leading to the hiring of individuals without enough life experience to handle the job. Additionally, the scandal has highlighted the need for stricter regulations and supervision within correctional facilities.
It is crucial that steps are taken to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. These relationships are a form of abuse of power and must be addressed with the seriousness they deserve. The safety and security of inmates must be a top priority in all correctional facilities, and staff members must be held to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.
Source: AWM
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