Five female prison guards, all from the same small area of South Yorkshire, have been jailed for engaging in illicit relationships with inmates. The unrelated cases involved guards from the former colliery communities of Bentley, Stainforth and Hatfield, all living within barely six miles of one another.
According to Ministry of Justice statistics, a total of 15 prison officers were convicted last year over inappropriate relationships with inmates – more than twice the number in 2024.
Latest conviction: Jahvine Kwamba
The most recent to be convicted is Jahvine Kwamba, 21, who was jailed this month after starting an affair with a convicted drug dealer who styled himself as the 'Latvian Pablo Escobar'. Kwamba, 19 at the time, became involved with prisoner Roberts Sokolovs while working at HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire.
Sokolovs was serving a six-year sentence at the Category C prison and was moved onto a wing where she worked, when they started sharing messages on Snapchat. The 21-year-old then stayed in touch with the crook when he was moved to an immigration removal centre for deportation to his Latvian homeland – sending further messages, including a string of sexually explicit ones.
In one, Kwamba wrote: 'So horny for you I swear.' Kwamba was caught and jailed for eight months at Leicester Crown Court after admitting misconduct in a public office, but still denies there being a physical relationship. Judge Tim Spencer, KC, said her crimes 'struck at the heart of the criminal justice system' when he passed sentence last week.
Other guards caught
Others to be caught include Charlotte Winstanley and Farr Varney. In 2022, the pair worked at HMP Lindholme. They were both having relationships with prisoners, but kept it quiet from each other. Farr Varney, now 27, fell head over heels with Jordan Stones, a convicted crack cocaine dealer serving more than five years.
She was caught when she was spotted slipping into a cupboard for sex, with love letters later found. Winstanley was conducting her own affair with Jabhari Blair, a gang member serving 12-and-a-half years for stabbing a man. The pair exchanged explicit WhatsApp and Snapchat messages, in which Winstanley told him she was "literally praying" to have his baby.
Farr said Winstanley would brag about having 'sex daily' but never disclosed who it was, referring to him only as 'B'. Farr Varney was jailed for ten months in May 2025 after admitting misconduct in public office, while Winstanley was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Sheffield Crown Court in February after admitting the same offence.
Further cases and official response
Another to be caught was Katie Evans, who became embroiled with convicted robber Daniel Brownley while working at HMP Doncaster. Evans, then 21, boasted about performing sex acts on the criminal inside the category B prison and collecting drugs cash on his behalf. Sheffield Crown Court heard how Evans called herself 'your queen' while talking to Brownley during explicit calls. She was jailed in March last year for 21 months.
The fifth officer to be convicted was Victoria Sked, who was working at HMP Lindholme when she was searched arriving for work in August 2018. Inside an open Pot Noodle container in her bag were two clingfilm-wrapped packages. A further search revealed steroids, phones, tobacco, nicotine and MDMA concealed in her clothing, while cannabis had been hidden internally.
Sked was part of a much bigger conspiracy involving prisoners, relatives and accomplices outside the jail who were supplying her with drugs and other contraband. She admitted drug-smuggling and money-laundering offences and was jailed for three years and 11 months in December 2024.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, suggested inadequate vetting and training was enabling criminals to exploit young recruits. He said: "What they'll do is that a new member of staff will start. They'll set a couple of prisoners on him or her. Start bullying them, giving them a really hard time, being a bit crazy with them, and then some very charming person will come along and say, 'Leave them alone. How dare you speak to her like that. Don't worry, love, you're with me.' By then they've already begun to reel that person in and begin a collusive-type relationship."
A Prison Service spokesman previously said: "The majority of prison staff are honest and hard-working, regardless of their age. We are catching more of the minority who break the rules through our Counter-Corruption Unit and stronger vetting. Where officers fall below our high standards, we do not hesitate to take robust action."
