Yahoo News Ex-prison librarian says giving knickers to inmate she slept with was 'stupid mistake'
A former prison librarian told jurors that giving an inmate she had sex with a pair of her knickers was a 'stupid mistake'. Sharon Mawdsley admits having sex with prisoner Stephen Morrell while working at HMP Kirkham, in Lancashire.
The 46-year-old told Preston Crown Court yesterday (April 10) that she did have 'consensual' sexual contact with Mr Morrell, who she gave a pair of black knickers to. But she insisted she did not wear revealing clothes or wear any more makeup than usual while working at the prison, Lancs Live reports.
Mawdsley, of St David's Road, Blackpool, denies sexually assaulting two other inmates at the category D open prison. She is accused of molesting two prisoners, who cannot be named for legal reasons, by grabbing their genitals over their clothing.
Mawdsley vehemently denied those allegations from the witness box. However, she admitted her contact with Mr Morrell, and that she knew it was wrong to give her personal phone number to him while working at the prison.
She told jurors she knew inmates were not supposed to have mobile phones in their cells, 'but most of them do'. Mawdsley said that giving Mr Morrell a pair of her black knickers was 'a stupid mistake', but added: "He asked for them so I gave them him."
Mawdsley previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office in connection with phone calls and text messages she exchanged with Morrell. But she said she was not attracted to any other inmates.
"The only person I ever touched was Stephen Morrell and that was consensual," she said. Mawdsley was sacked from her job when allegations of a fling with inmate Stephen Morrell came to light.
The jury is expected to retire to consider the verdict today (April 11). Proceeding
