Female prison guard, 25, was paid £12k by jailed robber to send him explicit pics and women’s underwear
A PRISON officer has been jailed after sending a series of explicit photos to an inmate and bringing him women’s underwear.
Rachel Martin, 25, worked at HMP Guys Marsh and admitted to an “emotional or intimate” relationship with prisoner Raymond Abraham.
Their relationship was said to have taken place between November 1, 2020 and March 8, 2021, during which time thousands of messages of an “explicit nature” were sent.
She also sent packages which included, among other things, designer clothes.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard today that the prison guard received more than £12,000 from Abraham, telling a friend "Ray is paying all my bills for as long as I need".
Prosecuting, Jodie Mittell disclosed the conservative estimate was reached through analysing bank transfers and cash deposits.
read more uk news
Martin also spent an amount "going into the thousands" on clothes and electrical goods.
The court heard Martin was subjected to a random search on February 3, 2021, where a remote control vibrator was found in her jacket pocket.
Three days after, following a search of Abraham's cell, a mobile phone, two USB sticks and an SD card - which stored underwear-clad pictures of Martin - were recovered.
They also found women's underwear under Abraham's pillow.
Most read in The Sun
Martin went home sick from work that day, and resigned on February 8, but their relationship resumed.
Following an arduous eight weeks of training, Martin began her stint at HMP Guys Marsh in January 2020, the court heard.
One such training module ironically addressed "conditioning, manipulation and corruption awareness".
Martin was arrested on April 1, 2021.
When her home was searched, police found a £3,000 in cash, shoe receipts and a number of other "high value material".
Two mobile phones were also gathered, one of which revealed a series of doting messages on WhatsApp as well as numerous calls.
The records of one phone showed 279 calls, mostly video calls through WhatsApp varying in length of time but some lasting more than an hour.
A second phone revealed 599 calls between February 6 and March 16.
Ms Mittell said: “She wilfully neglected to report that Mr Abraham had a phone and engaged in a series of communications with him knowing it was a criminal offence for a prisoner to have such a device.
"She wilfully received payments organised or paid for by Mr Abraham via third parties, more than £12,000 in total.
"The phone work conducted revealed the volume of messages - between November and February there were about 1,900 WhatsApp messages declaring their love for one another in December, messages of an explicit nature and messages indicating the desire to perform certain sexual acts on one another.
"In January there were images of Miss Martin in various states of undress sent by her to him."
The court heard that Abraham who was 40 at the time the relationship began, had a "significant criminal history".
At the time he was serving a 10-year prison sentence for his part in a gang detonating ATM machines to steal £120,000.
Defending, Claire Mawer said Martin was groomed by Abraham, who took advantage of her vulnerability.
Martin had recently endured a breakup and moved out of their home and in with her sister.
The criminal gave Martin his phone number at a point when she felt unloved.
At one point, the prison guard was so affected by bullying and harassment that she took a week off work due to stress.
She said: "She was a young girl, naive, suggestible, who lacked maturity and was also very vulnerable.
"This was a much older man with a significant criminal history. He approached Miss Martin, he initiated contact and was persistent in encouraging contact.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"It is clear, the providing of Miss Martin with cash to buy clothing and other items, it is the classic hallmark of grooming. Targeting a younger woman, identifying vulnerability and exploiting that."
Martin admitted nine offences of misconduct and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.