A PRISON officer sobbed as she was caged over an “intimate” relationship with a lag – after she was caught giving him a topless massage.
Dawn MacCormack, 42, had “inappropriate contact” with inmate Josh Moore while she was working at HMP The Mount in Hertfordshire.
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Fellow officers raised suspicions after the “intimate” pair were seen “flirting” and “giggling”.
After a search, Moore was found to be in possession of two illicit phones which had been smuggled into the prison.
It emerged Moore and MacCormack had traded up to 4,500 texts and calls on the phones between May 15, 2019 and June 20 that year.
MacCormack, from Borehamwood, was convicted of misconduct in public office in July following a nine-day trial.
She pleaded guilty to two other counts of exchanging the messages at a late stage during the trial.
Today MacCormack wept in court as Judge Michael Roques slammed her “repeated and deliberate breach of a high degree of trust”.
He told the mum-of-two she had risked blackmail and undermined prison safety.
The judge said: “I cannot be sure you were in a full sexual relationship with Mr Moore.
“But it would undoubtedly be described as an intimate relationship based on mutual sexual attraction.”
MacCormack sobbed as the judge told her she must serve two years and three months in prison.
‘PLAY FIGHTING’
The court heard how the relationship began when new recruit MacCormack was assigned to the prison’s Nash Wing in January 2019.
Among her 120 charges was Josh Moore, serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated burglary.
The judge said: “Other prison officers became concerned at the amount of time you were spending with Josh Moore.
“You were described as speaking to him for hours. They became more concerned still when you began spending time with him alone.”
The court heard MacCormack would take Moore into areas of the prison not covered by CCTV, such as the servery.
They were unknowingly caught on camera while MacCormack massaged Moore, who was topless.
MacCormack was said to have “rebuffed” repeated warnings from colleagues.
The court was told she denied anything was wrong with her relationship with Moore.
But a fellow officer reckoned she spent more than “50 per cent” of her time on duty with him.
The judge said: “There was another incident when you were play fighting with Mr Moore.
“Another officer sought to intervene and ended up injuring his hand, as it was caught between Mr Moore and a gate.
“More than once when prisoners were being locked up for the night, the roll call could not be completed because Mr Moore could not be found.”
Prison officers searching for Moore would “invariably” find him in MacCormack’s company.
MacCormack would explain Moore wished to talk about his brother’s death.
The judge said: “You used that repeatedly as an excuse for your behaviour.
“When he was finally placed in his cell, you went in the cell with him and pulled the door after you.”
The judge said Moore could have potentially taken MacCormack hostage after she shut the door.
He added: “Matters came to a head when you were alone together in a landing office.
“He was told to go back to his cell, and you were told once again how inappropriate it was to be alone with a prisoner.
“You were told by staff that other prisoners and other members of staff were talking about the two of you.
“Once again you brushed off any suggestion that your behaviour was anything other than professional.”
THE SHAMING OF THE SCREW
Moore eventually gave the game away by telling an officer he had heard MacCormack had been “told off” for speaking with him.
MacCormack was not on duty that day – so there was no way she could have told Moore about this in person.
The prison officer grew suspicious the pair were communicating by phone.
A search of Moore’s toilets on June 9, 2019 uncovered a phone which Moore had tried to flush away.
It later emerged the phone had been used by Moore and MacCormack to swap 4,100 calls and 85 calls for nearly a month.
Prosecutor Mark Seymour said: “They spanned every single day and were distributed for all hours of the day.”
After the first phone was discovered, Moore managed to get hold of a second mobile.
In a period of less than 48 hours, there were seven calls and 272 texts at all times of day.
By the time MacCormack was arrested on June 22, 2019, the texts on her phone had been deleted.
A deep search of her phone by IT experts uncovered a topless snap of Moore which she had saved in a password-protected vault.
The photo was captioned with a message from Moore saying he missed MacCormack.
It is currently unknown how Moore got hold of the two illicit mobile phones.
Sentencing, the judge rejected MacCormack’s claim she was remorseful.
He said she had continued to insist the relationship was platonic throughout the trial.
The judge also dismissed MacCormack’s claim she did not know how Moore had got hold of her phone number.
She was sentenced to 27 months in prison for misconduct in public office.
MacCormack will serve six months concurrently on each of the two counts of exchanging messages.
She will serve half the prison sentence before being released on licence.
MacCormack pleaded guilty to possessing the illicit phones in 2020 and was jailed for nine months, consecutive to another prison term.
‘BRAIN FOG’
The mum-of-two told her trial she had been in a state of “extreme distress” at the time of alleged offences.
She said her mum had been dying of pancreatic cancer and her marriage had come to an end after 15 years.
MacCormack said she was sacked from her job as a receptionist in 2016 over mental health problems which flared up at work.
She applied the prison service and scored 45 out of 50 in exams after going through 300 hours of training.
MacCormack said she had depression and “brain fog” much of the time she was in contact with Moore.
But Seymour said: “For all you knew, everyone in the whole of Nash Wing knew that you were in extensive conversations with Mr Moore.”
The prosecutor added: “For all you knew, he went round to everybody boasting.
“No doubt you appreciated that if it were to become known to authorities, you would be in deep trouble.
“You created a situation where for all you knew, the whole world and his wife could blackmail you. You put yourself in a criminal position.”
Detective Constable Paula Mowbray said: “I hope this sentence sends a clear message.
“Those who seek to undermine public trust while holding positions of authority will be dealt with by the full force of the law.
“The majority of prison staff carry out their duties to the highest standards and I do not want this sentence to detract from that.
“However, the actions of the minority who engage in illicit behaviour and inappropriate relationships should not be ignored.”
Hertfordshire Police cop Mowbray added: “We will continue to investigate such cases.
“I would also like to praise staff at HMP The Mount who came forward to give evidence during the trial, leading to a successful conviction.
“Prison officers up and down the country work tirelessly to maintain the smooth running of the prison regime.
“They were brave enough to stand up to a colleague who was abusing her position and endangering the safety of her colleagues.
“Her corrupt behaviour completely undermines the difficult and dangerous work that prison officers to help protect the public and keep prisons secure.”