Female prison guard caught on camera having sex with inmate after sneaking him into cupboard to 'supervise him'
12 January 2024, 15:43 | Updated: 12 January 2024, 15:48
A female prison guard has been jailed after sneaking a male prisoner into a cupboard to have sex with him.
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Shania Begum, 25, has been sentenced to 16 months behind bars after having a secret "inappropriate" relationship with inmate Joshua Mullings at HMP Birmingham.
They conducted their trysts in a store cupboard in the Category B prison, where Begum said she was supervising Mullings.
But prison bosses became suspicious of their relationship, and installed a camera in the cupboard to see what was going on.
They saw that Begum was using the cupboard for "play fighting, flirting, heavy petting and penetrative sex", Birmingham Crown Court heard.
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Telford resident Begum was arrested on October 3, 2022, She pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and was jailed on Thursday.
She had worked at the prison since 2018.
Sentencing Begum, judge John Butterfield said: "As time went by, you fell under suspicion and secret surveillance cameras were set up in the store cupboard," the Telegraph reported.
He added: "You and he repeatedly spent time together in that store cupboard to be physically intimate, up to and including penetrative physical acts. You were observed engaging in consensual activity whilst on duty."
Begum's defence lawyer Andrew Baker said that she was "of previous good character" and was "almost at a loss to explain her conduct."
He added that she was "deeply remorseful."
Mr Baker also told the court that she had been caring for her sick mother and sister, and had been feeling under pressure to enter into an arranged marriage at the time of the relationship.
Mr Baker also said that Mullings had groomed Begum.
DC Adam McHugh, from the West Midlands regional prison intelligence unit, said: "We work closely with HMP Birmingham and [the prison service's] counter corruption unit, sharing their commitment to uphold the values and conduct that the public expect of prison officers.
"The behaviour of Begum clearly erodes the public’s trust in her as a Prison Officer, and she now faces a period of time behind bars."
