Female prison officer who kissed inmate and sent ‘flirtatious’ messages jailed

A prison officer has been jailed for a year after she kissed and sat on the lap of an inmate whom she had been in a relationship with at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire.

Toni Cole, 29, shared 4,431 texts and calls with a 28-year prisoner over a five-month period which were “sexualised or flirtatious” in nature, including a photograph of underwear, Northamptonshire Police said.

Cole pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay £187 surcharge at Northampton Crown Court on February 13.

The force said Cole spent “considerable time” with the prisoner, whom she admitted she had kissed on at least one occasion, at the prison in Wellingborough.

Police said the relationship came to light during a meeting on January 25 2023, which had been arranged to discuss an unauthorised overtime shift she had worked two days earlier.

The force said CCTV footage of that shift showed the prisoner with his arm around Cole.

The prison officer, of Gordon Road, Wellingborough, had her Samsung S22 mobile phone seized from her locker when she was arrested and police found that there had been at least 18 video calls between the pair and they had shared messages between September 2022 and January 2023.

The investigation also found that the prison officer had sat on the inmate’s lap and “promised to tip him off” if she found out his cell was going to be “spun” by her colleagues, police said.

Detective Inspector Richard Cornell, from East Midland special operations unit’s regional prison intelligence unit, said: “Toni Cole knew what she was doing was totally inappropriate, and that her behaviour was not only putting her at risk, but also the safety of her colleagues and inmates.

“The majority of prison staff carry out their duties to the highest standards, and I hope this sentence sends a clear message to those who seek to undermine public trust while holding positions of authority that inappropriate relationships will be robustly dealt with using the full force of the law.”