Two corrupt prison guards who formed relationships with a pair of drug-dealing brothers have lost a bid to be released from jail. HMP Buckley Hall officers Jai Gascoyne, 25, and Elle Walton, 27, were imprisoned earlier this year after being found to have shared Valentine's Day cards, gifts and dozens of phone calls and social media messages with inmates Dil Nawaz, 30, and Haq Nawaz, 32.
The brothers were serving long sentences at the Rochdale prison after flooding the streets of Lancashire with up to £3m worth of class A drugs. Gascoyne and Walton were 'good friends' who socialised outside work.
Relationships uncovered by anti-corruption unit
Their relationships, which took place in early 2024, were uncovered after the anti-corruption unit received a tip-off. In August this year, Manchester Crown Court heard Gascoyne ordered matching necklaces and bracelets, engraved with the initials of their first names, from Amazon, for her and Dil Nawaz.
Valentine's Day cards from Gascoyne and Walton were also found in the brothers' cell, while both prison officers also received money from the Nawazs' associates. In messages Gascoyne and Walton referred to each other as 'Mrs N', said to refer to their desire to get married to the Nawaz brothers.
However, the court heard the relationships did not become sexual and they did not smuggle contraband on the Nawazs' behalf. Shortly before she left her job, Gascoyne also exchanged a series of messages over Instagram with another Buckley Hall prisoner, called Michael Haigh, where she agreed to visit his cell for a 'goodbye cuddle', the court heard.
Sentences and appeal arguments
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 in prison after she admitted one count of the same charge.
At a hearing at London's Appeal Court, lawyers representing the former prison officers both argued their sentences were 'manifestly excessive' and should have been suspended. Nick Cockrell, on behalf of 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 that she was being groomed for further crimes.
Judges reject appeal
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 although the relationships weren't sexual, they were 'committed, intense and... freely entered into' and that while the two officers hadn't smuggled phones into the jail, their actions had 'strongly promoted their use' by inmates.
