A prison officer told an inmate “I’m literally praying to have your babies” during their “romantic and intimate” relationship, according to a judge who said it was the worst case of its kind
A besotted prison officer had daily romps with a gang banger and told him she was “praying” to have his babies, a court has heard. Charlotte Winstanley, 27, would have regular “date nights” with convicted gangster Jabhari Blair, 30, at HMP Lindholme, South Yorks.
Sheffield Crown Court heard how smuggled in a range of contraband materials for him, including a mobile phone over which they sent intimate photos and videos, after they started a sexual relationship.
Prison CCTV cameras picked up intimate moments of them touching and disappearing together into rooms while graphic sexual messages between the pair were read out in court.
Prosecutor Aaron Dinnes said one message from Blair indicated that he “can’t wait to give Miss Winstanley a beautiful baby.” He said a message from the prison officer to the inmate read: “I’m literally praying to have your babies.”
The prosecutor said: “They also discussed how Mondays are their date nights.” And he read a message from Winstanley, which said: “Life starts now, baby. Every sacrifice I make I do so I can be with you.” Another he read said: “I love my job but I love you more.”
The prosecutor explained how Winstanley “acted as his link to outside”, with investigators even finding a link he provided to the Argos website, detailing items he wanted smuggling into prison. He said Winstanley even went to see Blair’s mother at her home in Leeds.
Blair was serving a 12 year sentence at the prison for stabbing a rival in a mass brawl in Bradford. Winstanley was suspended in November 2022 and Blair was transferred to another jail.
Mr Dinnes said that Winstanley signed up as a visitor and undertook online meetings with him at his new prison, with the relationship lasting around three years in total.
The prosecutor said there was also evidence Winstanley passed Blair information about prisoner movements, other inmates’ health care and a search of his own cell.
The court heard Blair told Winstanley he used his prison contacts to make sure she would “remain protected” and had “told her that somebody was ready to fight immediately, if necessary.”
Winstanley only finished her training as a prison officer in April 2022 but had worked in the prison before this as an operational support officer, the court was told. Part of her training specifically focused on relationships and corruption.
The court heard how Winstanley talked to her friend Morgan Farr Varney, who was also a new prison officer, about her new “boyfriend” but Varney was herself jailed for 10 months last year after a relationship with an inmate at HMP Lindholme.
Winstanley wept in the dock as the judge told her: “This is arguably the worst case of its kind I have personally dealt with. For a prison officer, young or old, to have conducted a sexual affair with a prisoner is bad enough.
“For it to be over a prolonged period of time worsens the matter. And, then, to be a party to smuggling in various items and to brazen it out when prison officials raise issues and give you an opportunity to confess – and it gets worse.”
Winstanley has admitted misconduct in public office and transmitting a photograph from inside a prison. Blair admitted possessing cannabis and prohibited items, namely a phone and a USB stick. Both were held on remand and will be sentenced on Monday.
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