It was the most shocking affair of the summer of 2024. A uniformed female prison officer had sex with an inmate in the corner of his cell in HMP Wandsworth, London.
The shocking scenes spread like wildfire across social media, with many Brits refusing to believe what they were seeing. While some found the saga funny, others pointed out that hardworking female prison staff were being put at risk by the tryst.
For their part in the controversy, former prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu and convicted criminal Linton Weirich faced heavy consequences. Abreu spent five months in prison, while Weirich was assaulted while holding his newborn baby.
How the video happened
According to the sentencing remarks following Abreu’s court appearances, the video filmed in Wandsworth lasts for “some four and a half minutes”.
It details her giving the prisoner oral sex, then intercourse in a number of positions, before concluding by giving more oral sex.
The remarks continued: “You participated with evident enthusiasm. The second prisoner recorded events and provided a commentary by way of encouragement including saying “Guys we made history”, “This is how we live at Wandsworth bruv” and “You know you are a gangsta”.”
Airport arrest
On June 28, Abreu called the prison to say she would not be returning due to a “family emergency” and that she was at the airport, court documents show.
Abreu was arrested at 7pm the same day at a departure gate of Heathrow Airport, where she was waiting to board a flight to Madrid with her dad.
The legal filing reads: “You say that you were planning to leave the country only until the public and media interest in the video had died down. You maintain that you did not understand that your misconduct had been illegal, although you said that your husband had advised you not to hand yourself in.”
It adds: “The fact is you were clearly aware that the video was evidence of serious misconduct when you planned to leave the country.”
‘Duress’ claim and sentencing
During a police interview on June 29, Abreu’s lawyers submitted a written statement which “asserted that she acted under duress, making detailed and serious allegations against the prisoners,” the court document read.
However, at the first hearing at a crown court, Abreu’s team admitted the allegations of being “pressured” into sex were “untrue” as she pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office.
On January 5, 2025, Abreu was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Life after prison
Abreu served five months of her sentence at HMP Bronzefield, Surrey, before she was released with a tag. Now, approximately a year after her release, she has spoken about the sordid affair from her West London home.
The married mum said she was “incredibly embarrassed” about the prison fling. She told the Sun: “Everyone’s doing something. I regret everything I did. I’m incredibly embarrassed.”
The 31-year-old added that HMP Wandsworth was “very understaffed” and “hard to manage” at the time. Abreu is now focused on getting on with her life. She said: “I’ve just been keeping a low-key life. I just want to get on with my life. I want to keep being a good mum to my child.”
Assault on inmate after cell fling
Meanwhile, Weirich revealed he didn’t want the video “getting out” as his partner was pregnant at the time. The 38-year-old, who was serving four years for burglary, said: “I didn’t want it to be filmed.
“You can see I was saying, ‘Stop’ and putting my hand up. I had a pregnant partner and didn’t want it getting out. Linda knew it was being filmed but didn’t seem to care about it or her job.”
The criminal who now works as a personal trainer said he didn’t know why his cellmate “Sharkie” filmed the affair, but suggested he may have done it for a “laugh”.
The clip soon went viral and the phone Linton had paid to be smuggled into prison began pinging with messages. He said: “I felt awful as I had a partner and a baby on the way. She was really angry. She was saying it was over.
“People called me a legend, but the effect it’s had is terrible. It caused so much damage to my partner, my family and myself. It’s the biggest regret of my life and it damaged everything.”
The ex-prisoner also revealed he was attacked while holding his baby, who was born a few months after the clip went viral. Weirich believes it was linked to the viral clip.
He told the Sun: ““When I woke up my partner was saying, ‘Someone hit you’. It’s 100 per cent linked to the Wandsworth video. Either someone asked him to do it or it was because I was in the limelight.
“It was part of the ripple effect of what happened. I had to have a metal plate put in and my jaw was wired shut. Luckily my son was okay.”