The women prison officers whose affairs with killers, gangsters and kingpins have been exposed

One was caught on a hidden camera having sex in a store cupboard. Another was said to have cut a hole in her trousers to enable her secret trysts.

They are the female prison officers caught having sexual relationships with the inmates they were supposed to be watching over. And their lovers include convicted killers, gangsters and drug kingpins.

Here we take a look at the screws who have been caught falling for criminals behind bars...

Joanne Hunter

Joanne Hunter started an inappropriate relationship with an inmate and smuggled cannabis into Forest Bank jail in Salford. The prison officer brought the drug into the jail hidden in a juice carton and a Red Bull can.

She handed over the packages to a ‘big player’ inmate in the prison before they were passed on to Connor Willis, who she 'thought was in love with her'. Hunter, 28, from Bury, had begun a relationship with Willis, kissing him and sending him explicit pictures of herself, but denied that it ever became sexual.

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She also admitted sharing ‘flirty banter’ with another inmate. Prison authorities became aware of Hunter’s crimes and she confessed after being confronted.

Hunter, of Holbeach Close, Bury, was jailed for three years after she pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and conspiring to convey list A articles into a prison.

Stephanie Smithwhite

Stephanie Smithwhite became obsessed with drug kingpin Curtis Warren and ruined her life by getting into a relationship with him. Smithwhite and 56-year-old Warren regularly began having sex and secret trysts while he was behind bars at maximum security prison HMP Frankland.

The pair quickly became infatuated with each other and continued their relationship for six months while she was supposed to be responsible for Warren's security and supervision. Smithwhite, 40, became so besotted she got a tattoo of his name on her body, next to a rose.

She even allegedly cut a hole in her trousers so the pair could have intercourse. It was only when other officers became suspicious that the sordid affair came to an end, and Smithwhite was investigated for misconduct in a public office.

In February 2020 she was jailed for two years after admitting two counts of misconduct in a public office, with one charge relating to their sexual relationship.

Olivia Hodgson

A prison officer was caught having an affair with a convicted murderer after a search of her home revealed snaps of the pair and birthday cards they'd given to each other. Olivia Hodgson had been working at HMP Garth in Leyland, Lancs since 2017 and started a relationship with the prisoner Lavarne Forde-Morgan in early 2020.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the 26-year-old had smuggled mobile phones into the prison, which she used to share illicit messages with Forde-Morgan, who was serving a life-sentence. Hodgson, of Hawthorn Road, Preston, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for misconduct in a public office.

Sarah Williams

Sarah Williams was jailed after it emerged she had relationships with multiple prisoners at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool. Investigations into the 38-year-old, of Kingsway, Widnes, started in early 2020 when prison bosses received information about the affairs.

Cell searches were later carried out and mobile phones were recovered, which found Williams had been communicating with inmates. The investigation was referred to the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit's anti-corruption department, who arrested Williams at her home on July 8, 2020 for misconduct in a public office.

In December last year Williams was jailed for 18 months at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and one count of causing a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to data.

Katie Loxton

Katie Loxton, 27, was a custody officer at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire when she first met convicted drug dealer Adam Higgs. Between July 2021 and January 2022, Higgs made 3,451 calls to prison officer Loxton from a telephone in his cell.

The pair had bypassed the prison's security system by setting up a fake contact on the telephone in Higgs' cell. Higgs spoke with Loxton for more than 380 hours and spent £798 making the thousands of calls.

The pair also performed sexual acts to each other over a mobile phone stashed in Higgs' cell. Higgs, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, also used the stashed mobile phone to communicate with Loxton through social media.

Loxton was jailed for 12 months for misconduct in a public office and without authority transmitting or causing the transmission of an image/sound by electronic means from within a prison.

Lauren McIntyre

Prison officer Lauren McIntyre, 32, had a sexual relationship with a killer who murdered his girlfriend and their baby daughter.

Her fling with Andrew Roberts, who was jailed in 2003 after he murdered 23-year-old Louise L’Homme and their 10-month-old daughter Tia in Tylorstown, Rhondda , took place in 2018 when he was serving time in a prison on the Isle of Wight.

The mum-of-three also provided Roberts with the personal mobile number of another prison officer knowing he intended to assault her colleague with whom she had also had an affair. She failed to raise the alarm about the assault meaning the officer 'fell into a trap' and received significant head injuries in the attack at the hands of Roberts.

She pleaded guilty to four charges of misconduct in a public office in 2021 and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Aisha Golsby

Prison officer Aisha Golsby was jailed after she tipped off a prisoner at HMP Portland about a cell search. Golsby, 23, had become romantically involved with Deano Harrison, who had been jailed for robbery and drug dealing.

Between June 2021 and March 2022, Golsby communicated with Harrison over social media and texts using two different mobile phones. She neglected to report Harrison was in possession of the phones, despite it being mandatory for prison staff to do so.

Between January 28 and January 29, 2022, Golsby tipped off Harrison about an upcoming cell search knowing he was in possession of the phones. She was jailed for 16 months in August 2023.

Shania Begum

Shania Begum was caught having sex with an inmate in a store cupboard at HMP Birmingham. The prison officer was put under surveillance after arousing suspicions at the jail.

A covert camera was installed in a store cupboard which subsequently filmed her behaviour with prisoner Joshua Mullings escalating from flirting and 'heavy petting' to full sexual intercourse. She ignored her work radio going off while she was with him and on one occasion she was interrupted by a colleague who said she had been gone for an hour.

The 25-year-old claimed she felt 'cherished' by Mullings at a time when she had been arranged to be married to another man who was said to be 'controlling'. Begum of Hurleybrook Way in Telford admitted misconduct in a public office. She sobbed in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court where she was jailed for 16 months on January 11, 2024.