Naive officer recruits taken advantage of by jail kingpins

'Teenagers with no work experience beyond Saturday jobs' given eight weeks training and sent into dangerous prisons

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

The number of prison officers investigated for inappropriate relationships with inmates has almost tripled in five years, The Independent can reveal.

New figures from prisons in England and Wales have revealed a surge in staff investigated for corruption, with those probed for relationships with prisoners up from 51 in 2020 to 144 last year.

Experts have warned that instances of staff wrongdoing are escalating because “teenagers with no work experience beyond Saturday jobs” are being recruited to some of the most challenging prisons in the country amid a recruitment and retention crisis in overcrowded jails.

Only 30 of the prison officers probed for inappropriate relationships in 2024 faced sanctions classed as “management or above outcomes”, which include criminal charges, dismissal, transfers, formal warnings or regradings.

The number of prison officers investigated for sneaking contraband into jails was also up 86 per cent in the same five-year period, according to figures obtained by The Independent via a freedom of information request. This can include items such as drugs and mobile phones.

It comes as the former governor of HMP Kirkham, Lancashire, last week found herself on the other side of the prison bars as she was jailed for nine years for a relationship with a drug gang boss known to his criminal associates as “Jesse Pinkman”, the meth dealer in the hit TV series Breaking Bad.

Kerri Pegg, 42, signed off on temporary release for her lover Anthony Saunderson, who is serving a 35-year term, and accepted a £12,000 Mercedes from him, paid for with 34kg of amphetamines.