December 22nd 2023.
In early 2020, Sarah Williams, a 38-year-old prison officer, was the subject of an investigation at Altcourse Prison in Liverpool. The prison staff were tipped off that Williams was having inappropriate relationships with several inmates. Upon a search of the cells, mobile phones were found and it was revealed that Williams was speaking with them.
On July 8, Williams was arrested and admitted to three counts of misconduct in public office, as well as intending to secure unauthorised access to data on a computer. At Liverpool Crown Court, Williams was charged with having inappropriate relationships with three inmates. One of those inmates, Connor Crawford, was serving a sentence for possession of firearms with intent to endanger life. Crawford was additionally charged with possession of a mobile phone in prison and was handed an extra six-month sentence. Another inmate is due to appear in court next year.
Judge sentenced Williams to 18 months in prison for her crimes. Detective chief inspector Chris McClellan said, “Relationships between prison staff and inmates greatly undermines and destabilises the prison regime. Sarah Williams became romantically involved with these prisoners just a short time after joining the prison service. Despite completing her initial training which included corruption prevention inputs, she continuously broke the law."
McClellan continued, “The overwhelming majority of prison staff carry out their duties to the highest standards, however the minority who do engage in inappropriate behaviour will be investigated and the appropriate action taken. We want to urge prison staff to be aware of any warning signs and to report any type of inappropriate behaviour so that we can take action to bring them to justice.”
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