Two former prison officers who developed relationships with drug-dealing inmates at HMP Buckley Hall have failed in their attempt to have their jail sentences reduced or suspended.
Jai Gascoyne, 25, and Elle Walton, 27, were jailed earlier this year after it emerged they had exchanged Valentine's Day cards, gifts and dozens of phone calls and social media messages with brothers Dil Nawaz, 30, and Haq Nawaz, 32, who were serving long sentences at the Rochdale prison.
Relationships uncovered
The brothers had been jailed for flooding the streets of Lancashire with up to £3m-worth of class A drugs. Gascoyne and Walton were described as 'good friends' who socialised outside work.
Their relationships, which took place in early 2024, were discovered after the anti-corruption unit received a tip-off. In August, Manchester Crown Court heard that Gascoyne had ordered matching necklaces and bracelets from Amazon, engraved with the initials of their first names, for herself and Dil Nawaz.
Valentine's Day cards from Gascoyne and Walton were also found in the brothers' cell, and both prison officers received money from the Nawazs' associates. In messages, Gascoyne and Walton referred to each other as 'Mrs N', which was said to refer to their desire to marry the Nawaz brothers.
Sentences and appeal
Gascoyne, of Chapel Street, Dukinfield, was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to two counts of misconduct in a public office. Walton, of Gordon Street, Bacup, Lancashire, was sentenced to 13 months after admitting one count of the same charge.
At a hearing at London's Appeal Court, lawyers for both women argued their sentences were 'manifestly excessive' and should have been suspended. Nick Cockrell, representing Gascoyne, said the sentencing judge had failed to take into account her previous good character, personal mitigation, remorse and her young age. Michael O'Brien, representing Walton, argued there was 'no sexual contact', no items had been smuggled into the prison, the contact lasted just eight weeks and there was no evidence she was being groomed for further crimes.
Appeal Court judges Lord Justice Holgate, Mr Justice Griffiths and Judge Kearl rejected those arguments, saying both Walton and Gascoyne acted with their 'eyes open'. In a written judgment, they said both women had been 'recently and specifically' trained about why 'this sort of conduct was unacceptable and dangerous'.
The judges said that although the relationships were not sexual, they were 'committed, intense and... freely entered into', and that while the two officers had not smuggled phones into the jail, their actions had 'strongly promoted their use' by inmates.
