Female prison officer under investigation over affair with inmate

An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service have launched separate investigations after a prison officer said a colleague was having an affair with a prisoner. Stock picture

A female prison officer who discovered a female colleague, who is also a prison officer, was in a relationship with a prisoner was threatened she would be physically harmed if she went public about the affair.

Gardaí and the Irish Prison Service have launched separate investigations into the affair and subsequent threats.

Details of the relationship emerged while the two prison officers were abroad on a beach holiday last week. 

One of the prison officers discovered her colleague had been sharing intimate texts with the prisoner, who is behind bars for drug offences. The pair had also been contacting each other on social media app Face Time.

The prison officer confronted her colleague and expressed her shock.

However, a short time later, the prisoner contacted her on her mobile phone warning she would be harmed if she revealed details of the relationship. It is unclear how the prisoner, who is serving a lengthy sentence, got details of her mobile number.

After the threats, the prison officer made contact with the prison in which she serves. They advised her the best course of action would be to return home immediately. She decided to do so and cut her holiday short. On return, she was interviewed by the prison authorities and an assessment was made as to the seriousness of the threats made against her.

Following that, the Irish Prison Service contacted An Garda Síochána, which is now investigating the matter.

A number of urgent searches in the prison over the weekend located the mobile phone which the prisoner had been using. It is not clear at this stage if the prisoner involved was interviewed by prison authorities. The prison officer who was in the relationship is facing possible suspension, but the timeframe of the investigation is unclear at this stage.

A spokesperson for the prison service said: “the Irish Prison Service does not comment on ongoing investigations”.

The Garda Press Office was contacted for comment but no answer was received by Sunday night.

The use of mobile phones in prison is an ongoing security problem. 

Relations between prison officers and prisoners are very unusual in Irish prisons but not unheard of.

A few years ago, a male officer in the female Dóchas Centre was suspended and subsequently left the service after it was discovered he was in a relationship with a female prisoner and had been living in a house caring for that prisoner’s young child.

In another incident in recent years, a female officer in the Midlands campus in Portlaoise was strongly suspected of having a relationship with a prisoner who was considered a serious criminal. 

While concrete proof of the relationship was not obtained, the female officer was transferred to another wing of the prison. Thereafter, according to different sources who were present at the time, she frequently attempted to revisit her old wing but was closely monitored whenever she showed up there.