‘I spent years in jail – lags use cash and affect to seduce officers’
A former prisoner says affairs between inmates and staff are rare – but claims they do happen and he is surprised more of it is not captured on camera.
Rich Jones, 54, is a former British Army veteran who later served seven years in jail for conspiracy to supply cocaine after getting hooked on “risk-taking behaviour”.
And during his time on the inside, he became aware of some criminals who were supposedly spending their time having sex with female officers.
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The reformed character – who once considered ending his life after losing four kilos of cocaine – told the Daily Star how some lags have “nothing to lose” by trying to seduce women who are sent to their unit.
He added: “I say it is rare [but] it happens certainly in the male estate that I am aware of. There are a lot of female staff. It happens for potentially different reasons and it could be the culmination of the result of conditioning.
“I think the time I was in, I had heard and had confirmed about maybe four or five relationships between staff and residents and on all those occasions staff were escorted from the premises. They usually got found out, security come in and grab them and they say ‘right come on give us your keys, give us your radio, you are off, you are sacked, you are done’.”
Rich, who is from Bristol, also spoke about how prisoners would use their outside influence to lure potential lovers.
He said it was not just prison staff who were put in compromising positions , adding that those brought in temporarily via education schemes or third-sector charities were also targeted by lags.
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The ex-soldier, who was in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, explained: “They will lavish them with lots of attention and they will show someone how much money they’ve got on the outside and will question [staff] about their lives, see how much they are earning and see if they are skint.
“They will start offering money and say ‘well you can make some money doing this’ so they can condition them quite easily. They know a lot of people in prison are a lot of young woman with very little life skills who are very easily manipulated by some people. I am surprised there are not more caught on film to be fair.”
Rich joined the army aged 18 and was posted in Germany during the Cold War and Northern Ireland in the Troubles before leaving the forces seven years later in 1995 to become a bodyguard.
He later became a drug dealer but during his time in prison he reformed himself and wrote the first book in his Lost Soldier series – with the latest one, Overseas Operations, being published earlier this year.
The author, who was released in 2019, is now a guest speaker and mental health practitioner who treats military veterans.
