- The woman, who is in her 40s, has been released on bail
- It follows case of Linda De Sousa Abreau, a prison officer at Wandsworth
A prison officer has been arrested on suspicion of having an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with an inmate at a jail.
The officer who is believed to be a mother aged in her 40s is now believed to have been suspended from her job at Highpoint Prison in Stradishall near Haverhill, Suffolk.
A source close to the investigation said that the prison guard allegedly went into a room with the inmate where she performed a sex act on him.
They said during the incident the guard accidentally switched on her bodycam and the footage was sent back to the control room.
The Category C jail has had a number of famous prisoners in the past such as racing legend Lester Piggott, and singers George Michael and Boy George.
Other well-known former inmates have included shotgun farmer Tony Martin who killed a teenage burglar and Amy Winehouse‘s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
Moors murderer Myra Hindley was also held at the jail at the time of her death in 2002, when part of it was a women’s prison.
The officer was held last Monday after alleged evidence emerged of her relationship with a male prisoner at the ‘training and resettlement’ jail.
The incident is alleged to have happened at the Highpoint Category C prison in Suffolk
The prison was once jokingly known as Hi-de-Highpoint, comparing its allegedly easy-going regime to the BBC holiday camp sitcom Hi-de-Hi!
Singers Boy George and George Michael were previously inmates at the Category C jail
She was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and taken into police custody before being released on bail, pending further inquiries.
Her arrest follows a series of cases across the UK where prison officers and staff members at jails have been accused of having relationships with inmates.
In one of the most recent high-profile cases, a woman officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was charged with misconduct in a public office after a video was shared online which apparently showed her having sex with an inmate in a cell at HMP Wandsworth.
De Sousa Abreu, 30, of Fulham, south-west London, appeared before Uxbridge magistrates on July 1 and was bailed to appear on July 29 at Isleworth Crown Court.
HMP Highpoint, which is on the site of a former RAF base, currently has around 1,300 inmates on two sites with ‘ageing infrastructure’ and a road running in between.
It was rated as being overall ‘reasonably good’ in a report after its last unannounced inspection by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons last October.
Linda De Sousa Abreu was charged with misconduct in a public office after a video was shared online which apparently showed her having sex with an inmate in a cell at HMP Wandsworth
Prison worker Abreu pictured leaving court after being charged with misconduct in a public office over a video of her allegedly having sex with an inmate at Wandsworth jail
But the report stated that the ‘regime and provision of education and training and work had deteriorated’ since its last inspection four years earlier.
The report added that there was a poor level of ‘purposeful activity’ by inmates and described it as a ‘challenging’ prison to manage and difficult to supervise.
But it stated that the prison which mostly held offenders convicted of violence or drugs offences was a ‘competent and well led establishment that was orderly and safe’.
It added: ‘There was a commitment to promoting positive behaviour and making use of the benefits of the extensive estate to help prisoners willing to engage to make progress.’
As a result, it said that many trusted prisoners at the jail were ‘living in near semi-open conditions’.
The prison was once jokingly known as Hi-de-Highpoint, comparing its allegedly easy-going regime to the BBC holiday camp sitcom Hi-de-Hi!
A spokesperson for the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) which represents seven police forces in eastern England said: ‘Our Prison Intelligence Unit was on Monday (8 July) made aware of an alleged inappropriate relationship between a prison officer and inmate at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk.
‘A woman was subsequently arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and was taken to police custody to be questioned. She was later bailed, and enquiries are ongoing.’
The Ministry of Justice has not responded to a request for comment.