A 23-year-old prison officer who embarked on an “inappropriate relationship” with an inmate while working at two separate Welsh jails has pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and now faces potential imprisonment.
Megan Breen changed her plea to guilty at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Monday, admitting she had engaged in a three-month affair with an unnamed prisoner between February and May 2022 whilst employed at HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed in Gwent, South Wales.
The court heard that a second allegation of illegally accessing a computer will not be proceeded with. Breen was released on bail but warned by the judge that she could face jail when she returns for sentencing next month.
Breach of Public Trust
The charge states that Breen, while acting as a public officer, “wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification” committed misconduct that “amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust” by having a relationship with a prisoner.
HMP Usk is a category C men’s closed prison housing approximately 280 inmates, including vulnerable prisoners such as sex offenders and convicted police officers. It is managed jointly with HMP Prescoed, an open prison situated three miles away that houses around 230 inmates who are typically nearing the end of their sentences and being prepared for release.
Breen, who was 21 at the time of the offences, had initially denied the charges when she first appeared at Cardiff Crown Court in January 2024. At that hearing, she pleaded not guilty to both misconduct in public office and illegally accessing a computer, with the trial originally scheduled for November this year.
Growing Pattern of Prison Staff Misconduct
The case emerges amid mounting concerns about inappropriate relationships between prison staff and inmates across England and Wales. An investigation by openDemocracy revealed that 92 prison employees faced disciplinary action between 2017 and 2023, with 63 being dismissed for inappropriate relationships with prisoners.
The annual number of staff disciplinaries for such offences rose from 11 in 2017/18 to 17 in 2022/23, with women working in men’s prisons receiving 72 per cent of the total sanctions handed out over the past five years.
“This is about staff training, staff recruitment, and the management of staff when they are in prisons,” said David Wilson, emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Birmingham. “It means you have colleagues who are inexperienced, and whose inexperience will lead them into situations where they make poor decisions.”
Recent High-Profile Cases
Breen’s guilty plea comes just days after probation officer Leonie Wilkinson, 27, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for her relationship with career criminal Gary Hampson at HMP Preston.
Wilkinson had failed to disclose their prior teenage relationship when applying for her role in 2020. The pair exchanged dozens of phone calls and messages, though Preston Crown Court heard their inappropriate relationship never became “physical or sexual”. Hampson received six months to run consecutively with his existing sentence.
Earlier this year, Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, was jailed for 15 months after being filmed having sex with an inmate at HMP Wandsworth. The former prison officer was arrested at Heathrow Airport whilst attempting to board a flight to Madrid after the footage went viral on social media.
Judge Martin Edmunds KC described the impact of her actions, noting that many female staff members reported being “hit on” more frequently by inmates and felt “considered fair game” following the incident.
Systemic Challenges
In June, another prison officer made headlines after having phone sex with an inmate and bombarding his mother with 900 messages to maintain their illicit relationship. The case highlighted the sophisticated methods some officers and inmates use to bypass security measures.
Prison service insiders point to multiple factors contributing to the rise in inappropriate relationships. Overcrowding, staff shortages, and the recruitment of inexperienced officers have created environments where professional boundaries become blurred.
“It allows prisoners to manipulate officers to do things that they would not be able to manipulate a more experienced officer to do,” one expert noted, highlighting particular vulnerabilities for new staff during probationary periods.
Legal Consequences
Misconduct in public office is an indictable-only offence carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, though sentences typically range from suspended terms to several years’ custody depending on the severity and circumstances.
Recent sentencing patterns show courts taking an increasingly firm stance. Toni Evelyn Georgina Cole, 29, received 12 months’ imprisonment earlier this year after exchanging 4,431 texts and calls with an inmate at HMP Five Wells between September 2022 and January 2023.
Katie Southern received 16 months, whilst Niamh Lloyd was jailed after her supervisors raised concerns about flirtatious behaviour with prisoners at HMP Forest Bank, leading to the discovery of over 40 hours of sexually explicit conversations.
Wider Implications
Andrew Davy, governor of HMP Wandsworth, emphasised how individual cases of misconduct undermine years of effort by professional staff. He noted that such incidents undo “in less than a day” the work female officers invest in building respect and trust within male prisons.
The Prison Service has responded by bolstering its Counter Corruption Unit and strengthening vetting processes. A spokesperson stated: “While the overwhelming majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest, we’re catching more of the small minority who break the rules.”
As Breen awaits sentencing next month, her case serves as another stark reminder of the challenges facing the prison system in maintaining professional boundaries and public trust. The judge’s warning that she could face imprisonment reflects the judiciary’s determination to send a clear message about the seriousness of such breaches of public office.
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