Face of jail officer jailed for ‘miss you’ texts to assassin lag she referred to as ‘babe’
Ellis Eyles, 24, from Darlington, was jailed for eight months for misconduct in a public office after illicit communications with inmate Mitchell Ingham at HMP Deerbolt
Ellis Eyles was a serving officer at HMP Deerbolt when she began regularly messaging and calling Mitchell Ingham(Image: Durham Constabulary)
A detective has described the jailing of a prison guard who was messaging a murderer inmate as a “fantastic result”. Ellis Eyles was a serving officer at HMP Deerbolt when she started regularly texting and phoning Mitchell Ingham.
Aged 15, Ingham received a sentence for murdering Dominic Doyle in the Manchester area in 2016. He displayed “no remorse and swaggered into the dock smiling” during his sentencing hearing.
Last month, he received a nine-month prison term for his role in contacting Eyles, to be served alongside his life sentence. Eyles, from Darlington, attended Durham Crown Court on Thursday for sentencing on misconduct in a public office charges. The 24-year-old had admitted to the offence.
Their illicit affair came to light after officers carried out a routine cell inspection and discovered a contraband iPhone at the prison near Barnard Castle, County Durham.
Enquiries revealed that Ingham and Eyles had been communicating through messages and video calls. Ingham enquired about the location of another prisoner, declaring he “will get him done in”, Durham Crown Court was told.
Antonia Adie, prosecuting, stated that phone analysis showed the pair had been in touch during June and July 2023, sharing details including phone numbers and addresses.
In one text, Eyles told the convicted killer “Miss you xxx”. On another occasion, Ingham messaged her, writing: “Phone me babe x”.
One Facetime conversation lasted 37 minutes, the court was informed. When responding to the text enquiring about the whereabouts of the other prisoner Ingham wanted to target, Eyles confirmed he was housed in a segregation unit, the prosecution stated.
Judge Richard Bennett sentenced her to eight months behind bars after she pleaded guilty to a single charge of misconduct in a public office at an earlier hearing.He declared the offending was so grave that the custodial sentence could not be suspended. Judge Bennett declared: “It’s clear you were in some kind of romantic relationship with this prisoner.”
This hampered her colleagues’ ability to function and eroded public trust in the Prison Service, the judge stated.
Judge Bennett said Eyles had assisted Ingham, noting: “You gave him information about another prisoner in the knowledge he was seeking to do him harm.”
Robert Mochrie, defending, described Eyles as “immature” when she began working at the prison, having completed just six weeks of training. Half a day of that training focused on anti-corruption measures, he explained.
“What you have here is a person of hitherto good character who falls into serious error by virtue of manipulation of the criminal mind,” he argued.
“That is what happened here to her eternal regret.”
Mr Mochrie revealed that Eyles, now 24 and from Darlington, possessed an “incredible work ethic” and secured employment with a bank after leaving the Prison Service.
There, he said, she prevented a customer who had fallen victim to a romance scam from suffering further financial losses.
Ingham, now 25, received a nine-month sentence at an earlier hearing for charges relating to possessing and using a mobile phone whilst incarcerated.
He was detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure for the 2015 murder of Dominic Doyle at a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester, and must serve a minimum term of 14 years, it was previously reported.
After sentencing, NEROCU Detective Sergeant Andy Davison, commented: “This is just part of the continued work with our prison partners to address misconduct in prisons.”
He added: “This has been the result of a fantastic proactive operation to stamp out prison corruption and I want to thank everyone involved in this investigation – their hard work has secured a successful outcome at court.”
