Married prison officer jailed after secret six-month relationship with inmate

Married prison officer jailed after secret six-month relationship with inmate Jade Morris, from Homer, Herefordshire, will spent 12 years behind bars after prison officials at HMP Long Lartin uncovered her relationship with jailed gangmember Jerome Nunes A married prison officer who sent sexually explicit selfies and letters during a six-month romance with an inmate at one of the UK's most notorious prisons has been jailed for 12 months. Birmingham Crown Court heard that Jade Morris exchanged more than 10,000 messages with prisoner Jerome Nunes between July 2022 and January 2023. The pair, aged 37 and 35, had what was described as an illicit "intimate relationship" while Morris worked at category A HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, where Nunes was serving a 12-year sentence for his involvement in a multi-million pound, eight-man cocaine distribution gang. They were rumbled by prison chiefs who became suspicious of Nunes after he threw an encrypted mobile phone from his cell window during a search. Once it was recovered, the device yielded thousands of messages on WhatsApp and Snapchat, which the pair had exchanged along with a string of raunchy photos. Investigators also found a letter written by Nunes to Morris confirming they had been involved in an intimate relationship. Morris, a mum-of-two from Holmer, Herefordshire, was going through a divorce at the time. She pleaded guilty in March to misconduct in a public office and to encouraging Nunes to use an illegal phone. She was jailed today. Sentencing, Judge Peter Carr said: "You, Miss Morris, had been working at the prison since January 2022, you were fully aware of your responsibilities and the occupational actions you engaged in. Mr Nunes was a prisoner serving a long sentence. It was soon established that there was a wrongful relationship between the two of you. "You were communicating each other with devices - you, Mr Nunes, your phone should not have been in your possession. And you, Miss Morris, you were using a contraband phone. You, Mr Nunes, tried to hide the evidence of your phone when your cell was searched in October 2022 but it was recovered. It was an encrypted device so the contents were unavailable, but the authorities were able to establish the phone number of that device." "The data from your phone, Miss Morris, was examined and showed extensive contact between the two of you. You also called another number being used illicitly by Mr Nunes. You refused to hand over your phone when you were arrested, but it was forcibly taken - you refused to give the passcode for it. "You deleted most of the contact with Mr Nunes, but some of it was recovered. The messages you sent included images of you and, using Snapchat, going back to July 2022. "There were many calls and over 6,000 messages in just over a month, and over 10,000 total. You were clearly in an intimate relationship with Mr Nunes. There was no evidence it was a physical relationship. You could've reported matters, but you chose not to. "I am quite satisfied that you willingly engaged with Mr Nunes. I agree with the probation officer that you tried to minimise your responsibility and agree that your account is not credible." Judge Carr concluded that imprisonment was "the only appropriate sentence" in both defendant's cases. He added: "In your case, Mr Nunes, you abused your relationship with Miss Morris. You were persistent. Your possession of a mobile phone undermines the general security of a prison, let alone when it also involves a prison officer." Nunes, of Newport, South Wales, was handed nine months in jail while Morris was jailed for 12 months. Nunes was previously jailed for 12 years in 2019 for his involvement in an eight-man gang, which was responsible for bringing in and distributing £2million of cocaine throughout Newport and the surrounding areas. Georgina Davies, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said afterwards: "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. "The Crown Prosecution Service worked closely with the police to build a case which reflected the seriousness of this misconduct, leaving both defendants no option but to plead guilty. We hope this case sends a clear message that those who abuse positions of public trust will be held to account."