A female prison worker who had phone sex with a convicted killer and a robber who targeted Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s family has dodged prison.
Leanne Butcher, 31, contacted Junior Lukelo-Mami and Tariq Dervan while she worked at HMP Swinfen Hall, in Lichfield.
The mother of two rang up or texted the killer Lukelo-Mami and robber Dervan more than 400 times after she began working in prison in 2021.
In one exchange Butcher told Lukelo-Mami she ‘loves him, loves kissing him, loves his lips’.
But she was caught when she told her boss over drinks about her conversations.
Appearing at Birmingham Crown Court she wept in the dock as she narrowly avoided being sent to prison.
Leanne Butcher avoided jail after she was caught have phone sex with two inmates
Judge Kerry Maylin said it was only owing to exceptional circumstances she was not being locked up.
Judge Maylin said: ‘You knew at the time you had two young children, young children who relied upon you as their mother. You chose to avoid abiding by the rules by having contact with two inmates.
‘I have given you this opportunity. If you fail to take it I will have no hesitation, no hesitation whatsoever in changing the sentence I have given you.’
Butcher got a two-year community order, 35 days of rehabilitation activity and 80 hours of unpaid work, after admitting three counts of misconduct in a public office.
Junior Lukelo-Mami who was jailed for manslaughter over the death of Myron Yarde
Tariq Dervan who robbed the brothers Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Dervan, 24, who is currently serving an extended sentence for robbing the brothers of Premier League footballers Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold at gunpoint.
In relation to Butcher he admitted two counts of possessing a mobile phone in prison and two counts of transmitting a sound or image from a prison.
He was handed an extra eight months added to the seven years and six months he is currently serving.
While Lukelo-Mami, aged 23, from London, has been released from jail after serving the custodial element of a 12-year sentence imposed on him in 2017.
He was convicted of the manslaughter of 17-year-old Myron Yarde, an aspiring rapper known as Mdot, who was stabbed to death in south-east London in April 2016.
Myron Yarde, 17, was stabbed in New Cross, south-east London on 3 April 2016
He has denied a single offence of transmitting a sound or image from a prison without authority and faces trial in August next year.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Power said: ‘In 2022 concerns were raised about her inappropriate relationships with inmates.
‘A search was conducted of her mobile phone against the prison telephone system.
‘It showed her number had been in eight calls with an inmate called Junior Lukelo-Mami who was serving at HMP Belmarsh but had previously been at HMP Swinfen Hall.’
Their call conversations were subsequently downloaded and transcribed.
Ms Power continued: ‘It was clear they were in an intimate relationship. The defendant said she missed him and that another inmate knew about them.
‘They were engaged in sexual conversations and they discussed their relationship and their long-term future.’
The court was told she also abused the prison computer system to find out if he was going to get deported.
Further investigations revealed Butcher’s relationship with Dervan who had been at HMP Swinfen Hall before being transferred to HMP Altcourse in Liverpool.
Butcher was arrested in September last year and analysis of her mobile showed her conversations with Dervan had been ‘sexual’.
At one point Dervan asked her to bring a prohibited item into prison for him but she refused.
Dervan managed to get hold of an iPhone 6 model which allowed the pair to have video chats and exchange pictures.
The prosecutor stated he was also using the device to upload to social media as well as speak to a contact in Albania about drug dealing.
In 2019, Dervan was one of three men who attacked and robbed Dane Rashford and Tyler Alexander-Arnold – brothers of Premier League stars Marcus and Trent respectively.
They were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, machete and baseball bat as they stole a £70,000 Range Rover, wallets and expensive watches in Manchester’s Moss Side.
Dervan was sentenced in 2023 to seven and a half years with a 24 month extended licence for robbery and weapons possession offences.