Prison officer jailed over relationship with killer

A female prison officer who had a relationship with a convicted murderer at a maximum security jail has been jailed for a year and four months.

Rebecca Green, 29, was working at HMP Whitemoor when she entered into a relationship with inmate John Otugade in October 2022, Cambridgeshire Police said.

Otugade was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in 2012 for the murder of a bouncer in London.

Police said suspicions were raised about Green, of Holbeach in Lincolnshire, in the spring of 2023 and Otugade was moved to HMP Belmarsh in south-east London while an investigation took place.

Officers searched Green's car and seized her mobile phone, which contained messages indicating she was in a relationship with the prisoner, the force said.

Otugade also had a number added to his approved contacts list inside the prison, under the name "partner".

This number was later found to be a match for a phone belonging to Green.

Green pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at an earlier hearing, Cambridgeshire Police said.

She was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on 24 June to one year and four months in prison, the force said.

Det Con Tom Adams, who investigated, said: "As a prison officer, you have a responsibility to keep prisoners and your colleagues safe.

"This was a serious breach of Green's responsibilities, and she failed to consider the potential impact on the security and safety of the staff and prisoners and how her actions undermined the work of the prison."

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