Female guards at the biggest jail in UK and Wales were fired for making the prison 'cosier' for inmates by having sexual relations with them. 18 guards were fired or forced to resign after it was found that they were sending explicit photos and exchanging raunchy phone calls at the Wrexham-based HMP Berwyn.
According to the Mirror, three of the guards were jailed. One of the guards was jailed for having sexual relations with a prisoner. She spent so much time with him, that it roused the suspicion of the staff, who launched an investigation. Another guard was jailed for eight months for smuggling a phone to her lover so she could send photos of herself via Snapchat. She was also caught kissing him.
The facility has been hit with similar controversies in the past since it opened in 2017-- three former workers were sentenced in a similar scandal.
Mark Fairhurst, chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, said the incidents occurred due to "the wrong kind of women" getting hired.
"Staff being recruited don’t have face-to-face interviews… it’s all done on Zoom," Fairhurst told the Mirror.
