Bridgend: Prison officer and inmate had phone sex - court

A former prison officer allegedly had phone sex with an inmate, a court has heard.

Ruth Shmylo, 26, had an inappropriate relationship with the unnamed inmate at HMP Parc in Bridgend, a jury heard on Monday.

She has denied misconduct in public office, relating to her time as a prison custody officer.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the alleged offence happened between 1 December 2020 and 17 April 2021.

This was up to the time Miss Shmylo's probation period came to an end and she left her role.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said the inmate had slid her a piece of paper with his number on it, and that "she claims she felt pressured to call him".

Mr Cobbe said she claimed to feel "trapped", but that that "in truth, she had a number of options and choices that she could have made", including reporting to staff that he had a phone in his possession.

He added the inmate was moved from Bridgend to HMP Manchester, after the relationship began, but phone conversations continued between the pair.

"The tone of those conversations allow for a fair inference… that she had been in a relationship with that inmate while he had been at Parc Prison," said Mr Cobbe.

He added Miss Shmylo had not made "a real effort" to bring that relationship to an end and had not reported the contact to prison staff.

The court heard the inmate would attempt to contact her "pretty much every day" during the time she worked at HMP Parc and, when she tried to stop the contact, he threatened to harm someone if she did not take his call.

Mr Cobbe said there was one occasion when Miss Shmylo had been concerned that the inmate would harm a different inmate following threats and "caused the other inmate to stay in his cell for the whole day" rather than reporting the issue.

He added that Miss Shmylo had admitted while being interviewed that she "had phone sex with the inmate", but that it mainly consisted of the "inmate saying things to her".

"That means she was actively engaging in phone sex with the inmate for some of it," he said.

The court heard that, during phone calls between the two, Miss Shmylo "refused to say [to] the inmate she loved him" despite pressure from him to do so.

"Plainly he is contemplating a future with her," said Mr Cobbe, adding: "She lets many of the comments made by him go unchecked."

But although it was "not possible to clearly define the nature of their relationship", Mr Cobbe told the court that it did not mean that an inappropriate relationship between Miss Shmylo and the inmate had not occurred.

The trial continues.