More than a thousand prison and probation staff have faced disciplinary action so far this year in Britain, damning new figures reveal.
From trysts with inmates, smuggling illicit substances behind bars and even befriending jailed thugs online, the Prison Service has been shamed by certain guards in recent years.
And while not all stray away from the beaten path and stick to the rulebook, some prison officers have made UK headlines for their inappropriate behaviour in some of the country’s worst jails.
In June 2024, Linda De Sousa Abreu sent shockwaves through the nation after an X-rated video with prisoner Linton Welrich, filmed inside HMP Wandsworth, went viral.
And before she was sentenced to 15 months behind bars at Isleworth Crown Court, she shamelessly showed off her ankle monitor while on bail, describing it as ‘very demure’.
This year, in HMP Codingley, Surrey, Isabelle Dale was discovered to have had sexual relationships with two separate locked-up criminals – and even had one of their nicknames tattooed on the back of her neck.
Meanwhile, figures from the Prison and Probation Service have indicated dismissals have nearly doubled from 287 to 405 between March 31, 2024, and April 1, 2025.
Linda De Sousa Abreu was given a 15 month jail term having previously admitted misconduct after an X-rated clip in a jail cell at Wandsworth Prison went viral on social media
Isabelle Dale, 23, had sex with Shahid Sharif, 33, in the worship area at HMP Coldingley as two room mates posted as lookouts
Of these dismissals among HMPPS staff, men accounted for 276, and 129 were women, indicating an increase of around five and seven per cent, respectively.
Men were also investigated at double the rate of women, a trend which was seen throughout all age groups of staff in the service.
Cases involving men were also more likely to lead to further action than investigations involving women.
In total, 1,286 staff were subject to conduct and discipline action, with 939 of those ending in employees being penalised.
Meanwhile, the report also found investigation rates of staff decline with age, with those 4.4 per 100 staff being under 30 while only 2.4 per 100 were 60 and over.
Freedom of Information requests lodged by the Daily Mail have also laid bare which British prison has the most rule-breaking prison guards.
Between 2014 and 2024, HMP Wandsworth came out on top as the prison with the most staff who had faced disciplinary action for gross misconduct, with 52 altogether.
And in second place was HMP Wakefield with 47 staff who had faced the same action in the last ten years.
Linda De Sousa Abreu (pictured in a mug shot) was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Isleworth Crown Court, but will likely serve less than a third of the time behind bars
She was jailed after footage showed her in her full prison officer uniform having sex with inmate Linton Weirich, 36, as her discarded radio constantly crackles with messages from colleagues
Linton Weirich (pictured with his partner) is the inmate who was filmed having sex with a female guard in a cell
In the year 2023/2024, Wayland and Chelmsford prisons had the most staff who faced disciplinary action.
HMP Wandsworth and HMP Wayland had the most staff who had been dismissed or received other penalties for gross misconduct in a ten-year period, with 35 and 38, respectively.
It comes as a Daily Mail investigation revealed prison staff accused of criminal offences at work were quietly resigning or transferring to avoid police probes.
It was discovered that bosses at HMP Feltham failed to report officers accused of violence, destroying evidence of crimes and inappropriate relationships with inmates to police.
A source at Feltham, Britain’s most violent jail, said management ‘covered up’ episodes of serious misconduct to avoid adverse publicity for the prison once it was placed in special measures by the watchdog.
Two officers accused of beating up a young offender then destroying the body-worn camera which captured the assault resigned days before their misconduct hearing and never faced police questioning.
Another female officer reported by colleagues for having inappropriate relationships with inmates quietly transferred to another prison – the same one her love interest criminals were moved to.
Dale arriving at Southwark Crown Court London on May 23, 2025. She now faces years behind bars
Dale told the court she felt she never fitted in with her colleagues because they would mock her extensive tattoos
And at her new jail, in Wetherby, she was convicted of having sexual relationships with the inmates.
It comes Isabelle Dale was found guilty of having two sexual relationships with inmates during her time at HMP Coldingley.
She had sex with Shahid Sharif, 33, in the worship area at HMP Coldingley, Surrey, as two room mates posted as lookouts.
The prison officer was seen emerging alongside the convicted robber after four minutes, hastily readjusting her belt, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Following their tryst, Sharif sent her a message which read: ‘It was good sharing dat love today.’
Dale had the prisoner’s nickname, ‘Sneaks’, tattooed on her neck, and also referred to herself as ‘Miss Sneaky’.
Meanwhile, police also discovered she had a sexual encounter on at least one occasion with a second inmate, Connor Money, 28 (pictured right) (Pictured left: Shahid Sharif)
A framed picture of them both was also hung over her bed.
After her arrest, police also discovered she had a sexual encounter on at least one occasion with a second inmate, Connor Money, 28.
He was locked up for nine years for killing his best friend in a car crash in a 147mph police chase on a motorway in Kent. Sharif was three years into a 12-year sentence.
After the prayer room coupling, Sharif was transferred to HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey were she smuggled in love letters laced with synthetic cannabis or ‘Spice’.
The 23-year-old had become besotted with Sharif, telling him in a letter that she ‘worship[ped] the ground’ he walked on, Southwark Crown Court heard.
However, it later emerged after she was arrested on her last visit to Sharif in HMP Swaleside, where she believed he would propose, that she had previously sent inmate Money a series to texts.
In one message, Money asked: ‘When will I get to feel them sexy lips around my hard d***’ , to which she replied: ‘When you know you want me and only me lol xx’
She broke down in tears in November after she was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to convey a ‘List A’ prohibited article into prison.
The video, taken on a phone a lag had smuggled into his cell, shows an officer confronting a prisoner as he stands outside their door – confronted with the stench of marijuana
In another, a prisoner explains how he got a tiny phone – or Zancos, as they are known in prison – through a ‘Gov link’
In June of this year, prison officers were accused of corruption after shocking footage showed them turning a blind eye to drug use behind bars.
The video, taken on a phone a lag had smuggled into his cell, showed a shocking moment where an officer confronted a prisoner about the stench of marijuana in his cell.
And when the convict pushes back – asking the officer openly what his room smells like – he is met with an extraordinary response as he is told to open his window so it isn’t as obvious.
In the footage, obtained by Channel 4’s UK Prisons – Sex, Drugs & Corruption: UNTOLD, the officer says: ‘What the f*** is in that? I don’t wanna know.’
The prisoner responds: ‘Why, what does it smell like?’, to which he replies: ‘F***ing weed.’
When the lag says: ‘Weed? It smells like weed?’ he says: ‘Yeah, hence why I told you, open your f***ing window
In a brazen show of shamelessness, the prisoner then asks ‘What’s that on the table?’ The officer says: ‘Well, there you go.’
It comes after figures obtained by the programme show there were 1624 reported investigations of officers breaching security between January 2022 and March 2024 – over double that of 10 years ago.
52 prison staff were recommended for dismissal for breaching security, with more than ten times more – 549 – resigning in the same time frame after having been previously subject to investigation for the same issue.
