two prison workers jailed after having illicit encounters with inmates

Prison officer Rebecca Pinckard (left) and tutor Melissa Murphy (right) were both caught in intimate relationships with inmates (Picture: SWNS/Newsquest)

Two prison workers have been sentenced today for having inappropriate relationships with inmates – including oral sex and sending erotic letters.

Prison officer Rebecca Pinckard,46,was caught performing a sex act on prisoner Erion Nakdi on her own body camera in a store cupboard at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk in July.

Melissa Murphy,49,who was working as a tutor at HMP Chelmsford,Essex,and was engaged to someone else,was sending erotic letters to Gavon Smith.

She was caught by a colleague in December 2023 ‘with a flushed upper chest’ in a locked room with the prisoner.

Both women were jailed for eight months today.

Sign up for all of the latest stories

Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.Pinckard,a mum,was captured performing a sex act on Nakdi in two video clips filmed five minutes apart on her own body-worn camera,which Judge Anthony Cartin said ‘was not a one off’.A picture officers found next to Murphy’s bed of Gavon Smith (Picture: Essex Police)Melissa Murphy,was sending erotic letters (Picture: Newsquest/SWNS)Sexual videos of Nakdi from his prison cell were also discovered on Pinckard’s phone. She had also sent him a Moonpig card in April.The judge said: ‘[Murphy was] only discovered because of a clumsy mistake.‘Your camera had been activated during the intimate encounter. The offence wasn’t a one-off – it went on for a number of months and the card was sent.’Meanwhile,Murphy admitted writing love letters and locking herself in a workshop with the inmate but denied any physical relationship.Judge Jamie Sawyer said that,on December 8 2023, Murphy requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop where she taught industrial cleaning despite there being no scheduled class that day.‘This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room,appearing flustered when the door was opened,’ he said.Judge Jamie Sawyer said that, Murphy requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop despite there being no scheduled class that day.‘This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room,’ he said.‘You held a position of trust within a prison and abused that trust by engaging in a romantic relationship with a prisoner,exposing yourself to corruption and undermining confidence in the prison system.’He added: ‘The victim here,and in my judgement there is a victim,is the public.‘Confidence in the prison system is essential. And your actions have further eroded that confidence,particularly at HMP Chelmsford.’