Former Doncaster prison officer had nude photos of inmate on her phone and 'planned to smuggle phones' into jail

Jade McCarthy also planned to pass mobile phones to prisoners at HMP Doncaster, police believe, after a number of small Sonika phones notoriously used in jails were found at her home wrapped in clingfilm.

The 27-year-old, of Pickering Road, Bentley, was today sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 27 months behind bars after admitting two counts of misconduct in a public office and one of conveying a List A article into prison.

McCarthy was employed as a prison officer at the jail in 2015 when colleagues began to suspect she was in a relationship with a serving prisoner.

When she was arrested in November that year by South Yorkshire Police's prison investigation team, a blister pack of tramadol was found in her handbag within the prison.

A number of mobile phones were subsequently recovered from her home, and nude photos of an inmate, whom phone records revealed she had contacted numerous times, were found on her handset.

Acting Detective Sergeant Alex Dorlin, from the prison investigation team, said: "McCarthy admitted being in a relationship with a prisoner once arrested and has accepted responsibility for her dishonest and disappointing actions.

"As a prison officer, the public quite rightly expect a high standard of behaviour and McCarthy did not conduct herself in a professional, ethical or legal manner at all.

"Taking a pack of tramadol, an addictive painkiller, into a prison environment is not only reckless but potentially highly dangerous.

"The four phones recovered from McCarthy’s home were the small Sonika phones which are notoriously used in prison due to their size making them easy to conceal. The phones had been wrapped in cling film, clearly indicating they were destined to be smuggled into prison as well.

"She now faces time behind bars to consider the consequences of her criminal behaviour."