Scandal-hit jail where 18 female staff were fired or quit over affairs with inmates hit by staffing crisis

A SCANDAL jail where 18 female staff were fired or resigned over affairs with inmates has been hit by a staffing crisis.

The women’s departures have contributed to the shortage at Britain’s largest male prison.

A new Independent Monitoring Boards report describes the staff issue as “the biggest destabilising factor” at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, North Wales.

The 18 cases have arisen since the 2,100-capacity jail opened in early 2017.

It has emerged that some of the 18 were operational staff at the prison.

Others were wor-king there from partner organisations, in areas such as rehabilitation.

Three female guards — Jennifer Gavan, 27, Ayshea Gunn, 27, and Emily Watson, 26 — have been jailed in the past year for relationships with lags.

The report looked at a period from March 2022 to February this year.

It said the jail, for Category B and C prisoners, has been gradually “opening up” since Covid.

But it stated: “Progress has been adversely affected by shortages of operational staff and probation officers.”

It added that many staff were inexperienced.

The Prison Service said that more staff are being recruited.

In response to the affairs scandal, it said anti-corruption training had been given to more than 500 workers in the past 18 months.

Crime and security expert Chris Phillips said: “It beggars belief that so many female officers could be involved in relationships with inmates.

“Where is the supervision of these officers?”

A spokesman for The Prison Officers Association said: “At Berwyn, staff there for only three or four months are teaching new staff.

“When you put young staff in and they mix with experienced prisoners — a lot of them wealthy — they are cultivating them.”