Prisoner moved after alleged ‘inappropriate relationship’ with guard
- James Riley, 28, was jailed to 16-years for the attempted murder of his girlfriend
- The guard has since been cleared due to ‘an absence of substantive evidence’
A jailed ex-cop – convicted of attempted murder – has been moved to another prison after allegations of an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a guard emerged.
James Riley, 28, was jailed for 16 years after attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend Ellie Moxham by strangling her and putting a plastic bag over her head.
It was described by a judge as a ‘brutal and determined’ two-minute attempt on the young academic’s life on November 10, 2022.
Ms Moxham was left with a long-lasting brain injury from oxygen deprivation following the attack.
Now it has emerged an investigation was conducted at Salford’s Forest Bank due to an alleged ‘inappropriate’ relationship between a guard and Riley.
James Riley convicted of attempted murder – has been moved to another prison as allegations of an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a guard emerge
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after strangling his ex-girlfriend Ellie Moxham for two minutes leaving her with a long lasting brain injury (pictured: HMP Forest Bank)
The staff member who is believed to have become close with the criminal was moved to another wing after colleagues complained.
A source said co-workers had raised the issue in part because of the risk to the prison officer.
Prison sources have since revealed, the 28-year-old has been moved to another jail, which is believed to be HMP Prison Parc in Brigdend, South Wales
However, it is understood the staff member in question has been cleared because of ‘an absence of substantive evidence’.
A source from the prison alleged Riley claimed to be in a relationship with the guard, and that they kept their position at the facility.
MailOnline has approached HMP Forest Bank for comment.
G4S, which operates HMP Parc in Bridgend declined to comment.
Managers at the jail believe there was a ‘thorough investigation’ which has since been concluded due to a lack of evidence.
They also noted HMP Forest Bank is a ‘reception prison’ from which inmates are transferred to other facilities daily.
In response to the allegations, an HMP Forest Bank spokesperson said in January: ‘We are conducting all relevant enquiries, therefore it would be inappropriate to comment or name any individual in the meantime.’
As he was sentenced in January a judge told him the attack was a ‘brutal and determined’ two-minute attempt on academic Ellie Moxham’s life
CCTV footage revealed Riley’s movements after the incident, highlighting his intention to evade capture by making two £250 cash transactions from different ATMs and getting rid of his mobile phone to ensure he could not be tracked
After fleeing the Premier Inn, Riley spent 11 minutes on the phone to his parents – telling them ‘I’ve killed Ellie’ – before eventually calling an ambulance then fleeing the scene to ‘save his own skin’
Ex-Lancashire Police officer, Riley, was charged with attempted murder after a brutal attack on his former girlfriend at a Premier Inn after she decided to leave him.
Ms Moxham, then aged 24, was ‘persuaded’ to go to a Sigrid concert in Manchester which the former couple had booked some months earlier.
Riley was hoping to ‘rekindle’ their relationship, which began when they were both undergraduate students at Lancaster University years earlier, but attacked Ms Moxham with ‘murderous intent’, after she texted her new partner Alex Gough.
CCTV footage revealed Riley’s movements after the incident, highlighting his intention to evade capture by making two £250 cash transactions from different ATMs and getting rid of his mobile phone to ensure he could not be tracked.
After fleeing the Premier Inn, Riley spent 11 minutes on the phone to his parents – telling them ‘I’ve killed Ellie’ – before eventually calling an ambulance then fleeing the scene to ‘save his own skin’.
Ms Moxham, who was a PhD student at Lancaster University, was initially put into an induced coma and spent a day in intensive care.
Riley was later arrested in West Yorkshire four hours after the incident and sentence to 16 years in jail after admitting attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court in January.
In April 2023, an investigation was conducted into allegations of widespread drug use and inmates who ‘run the wings’ at Forest Bank.
A source from the prison alleged Riley (pictured) claimed to be in a relationship with the guard in question
it is understood the staff member in question has been cleared because of ‘an absence of substantive evidence’, however sources say Riley has been moved to HMP Parc in South Wales (pictured)
It prompted both Salford’s mayor – Paul Dennett and an MP to request the government demand an ‘urgent’ review of the facility.
Among the revelations uncovered by Manchester Evening News, was a call from Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey to the Ministry of Justice to scrap a billion pound contract it has with Sodexo who run Forest Bank.
Based on allegations from a whistleblower, an ex-prisoner and his father, and the family of a grandfather who died in his cell, the publication exposed the inner the prison.
The culture at the jail was described by Rebecca Long-Bailey as ‘lawlessness’.
It emerged drugs were ‘rife’ having been smuggled via ‘legal letters’ and inmates are ‘off their t**s a lot of the time’
The investigation also found inmates brew their own hooch, in wings where ‘violence’ is commonplace.
Staff were said to feel ‘unsafe’ with a single guard sometimes being ‘left to guard a 100-plus inmates’.
Staff were also said to be purchasing ‘their own uniform because of cost-cutting’.
A desperate father paid off a drug dealer on his addict son’s wing because ‘staff didn’t protect him’
Sodexo’s contract to run the prison comes to an end on January 19, 2025.
In April 2023, an investigation was conducted into allegations of widespread drug use and inmates who ‘run the wings’ at Forest Bank
The corporation was awarded a deal to build, run and design the former Agecroft power station in 1998.
The staggering £1,006,771,964 deal would see the property transformed to property able to house a maximum of 1,064 inmates.
The private finance initiative was to last for 25 years, before being extended.
The facilities management giant, founded and based in France, runs six prisons in England and Scotland, and last year recorded revenues of 21.1 billion euros.
An announcement about the contract is anticipated to be released following the general election
