‘Phone sex’ prison officer insisted on wearing skin-tight trousers to work, court told

A female prison officer accused of having an affair with an inmate insisted on wearing tight trousers to work, a court heard, as accusations emerged that she had a relationship with a second prisoner.

Ruth Shmylo, 26, is on trial accused of having a five-month relationship with “manipulative” drug dealer Harri Pullen and having “secret phone sex” with him.

The court heard on Wednesday that Ms Shmylo was accused by prison bosses over her behaviour towards other inmates while working as a custody officer at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales.

It emerged that she was questioned by jail bosses over her “flirtatious” behaviour with inmates just months after starting work there and was also accused of blowing a kiss to a third prisoner.

Trousers ‘not considered appropriate’

Dan Hayman, the head of security, said counter-corruption teams questioned Ms Shmylo over her alleged relationships with another unnamed prisoner.

He added that Ms Shmylo also chose not to wear prison-issue uniform and instead wore her own “skin-tight trousers” which “left very little to the imagination”.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said that between January and April 2021, there had been 20 “intelligence reports” in the prison that stated concerns surrounding Ms Shmylo’s behaviour, including her choice of uniform.

Mr Cobbe said Mr Hayman had asked Ms Shmylo if it was not better to wear trousers that “were a little larger and not quite so fitting”.

Mr Hayman said: “The concern was Ms Shmylo was wearing trousers that she had purchased outside of the uniform supply process which were exceptionally fitted and not considered appropriate.”

He added: “There is a large cohort of male prisoners and a young female officer or any officer wearing inappropriate clothing is something that we would challenge – especially trousers that are that fitted and leave very little to the imagination.

“There were other trousers available but she was not happy with how they fell on her body or how they looked.”

Mr Cobbe asked Mr Hayman about a series of issues that Ms Shmylo was questioned over by prison bosses including a relationship with another inmate, concerns over use of social media, her relationship with Pullen and “the way she was interacting with other prisoners”.

Mr Hayman said Ms Shmylo was seen on CCTV blowing a kiss to a prisoner. She explained she was “embarrassed” by it and said it was a “silly mistake”, Mr Hayman said.

The security head said there were also other safety fears that led to Ms Shmylo eventually being dismissed, adding: “There were reports over conversations she was having with prisoners.

“She was observed to be secretive, whispering, intentionally trying to have conversations out of earshot.”

Mr Cobbe said there were also discussions of Ms Shmylo’s relationship with another inmate – who was moved to a different wing because of concerns over their closeness.

The court heard that there had also been reports that she had sought out a different prisoner on Facebook with a “second phone” he was feared to have had inside, about which she was questioned by prison officials.

Mr Hayman said: “This was in relation to a different prisoner who we had reports of Ms Shmylo linking to. Ms Shmylo told us that the only connection was via social media because that person was a friend of a friend but she acknowledged that she had searched for him on Facebook.”

Ms Shmylo, of Treforest, Pontypridd, denies misconduct in a public office.

The trial, expected to last five days, continues.