Prison officer and inmate jailed over Snapchat fling

A former prison officer has been told she could have caused "untold harm" inside and outside the jail she worked at by sharing more than 5,000 illicit Snapchat messages with an inmate.

Jade Morris, who sent messages to convicted drug dealer Jerome Nunes' "contraband" mobile phone during a secret fling, was jailed for 12 months on Friday at Birmingham Crown Court.

Nunes, who was freed from a previous sentence almost two years ago, was jailed for nine months after being told he had "abused" his relationship with Morris.

The court was told on Thursday the pair used multiple phones to communicate after Morris started working at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire in 2022.

Morris, 37, of Holmer, Hereford, described the allegations against her as "ludicrous" at the start of a police inquiry launched after Nunes threw his illegally-held "encrypted" mobile phone out of his cell window.

But at a hearing in March she pleaded guilty to offences of misconduct in public office and encouraging Nunes to use a prohibited device.

Nunes, from Newport, south Wales, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court in February to two offences under the Prison Act 1952 for possessing and using an unauthorised mobile phone.

The court heard the 35-year-old has 23 previous convictions for 31 offences and had been at Long Lartin serving a sentence for a drugs conspiracy offence imposed at Cardiff Crown Court in 2019.

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Carr told the defendants: "Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody."

Carr told Morris: "You had been working at the prison since January 2022. You were fully aware of your responsibilities."

The judge, who was told that Morris called in sick on the day after Nunes' phone was seized, said her account to police had not been credible.

He added: "You were clearly in an intimate relationship with Mr Nunes. I accept there was no evidence of a physical relationship."

Rejecting Morris' claims to have been frightened of Nunes, the judge added: "You could have reported matters but chose not to. I am quite satisfied that you willingly engaged in contact with Mr Nunes."

The judge said illegal possession of mobile phones within prisons undermined security and carried a potential to "cause untold harm inside and outside the establishment".

Georgina Davies, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Prison officers hold positions of significant trust and responsibility.

"The public are entitled to expect that those working within the prison system will act with integrity and always maintain clear professional boundaries. This case involved a sustained and deliberate breach of that trust.

"Jade Morris knew that prisoners should not have access to mobile phones yet chose to engage in a prolonged relationship with Nunes, directly facilitating his criminal offending and undermining the security of the prison in which she worked.

"We hope this case sends a clear message that those who abuse positions of public trust will be held to account."

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.