Prison officer Joanne Hunter, 27, weeps as she is jailed for three years after affair with inmate
A PRISON officer who sent X-rated photos to her illicit inmate boyfriend wept as she was jailed for three years for their affair.
Joanne Hunter, 27, sobbed then blew a kiss to her family before being led down from the dock after being sent behind bars.
She was sent down today for the inappropriate relationship carried out when employed at HMP Forest Bank in Salford in December 2020.
Hunter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
She also admitted a charge of bringing or conveying cannabis into the prison.
The officer believed Connor Willis was "in love" with her as she agreed to smuggle packages, including cannabis, into the prison for him.
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She also sent him explicit photographs, which were later found on her phone, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Hunter had started working at the prison in December 2018 after completing a master’s degree in Childhood and Youth studies.
She first met Willis in early 2019 but did not like him at first as she believed he was "arrogant and threw his weight around".
But the pair ended up in a relationship together soon after - with Hunter sneaking items into his cell.
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She received the packages from a woman at a Tesco but refused to take the £300 her prison beau offered her for her efforts.
In text messages, Willis asked Hunter for "burn (tobacco), weed, whizz (amphetamines)”.
The tryst was finally rumbled in 2020 when prison authorities received information she was taking items inside the jail.
Hunter admitted kissing Willis and being in a relationship with him but claimed the relationship “went no further”.
Richard Orme, defending, said the ex-prison officer was a "naive, impressionable and vulnerable young woman”.
He added: "She was ripe for picking for an unscrupulous criminal to take advantage of her in her first job out of education.
“She believed this unscrupulous individual loved her.
“And she believed it needed to reciprocated and she needed to do what he asked.”
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But sentencing, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson said she chose her own path based on "selfish desires".
He also slammed Hunter for striking "at the heart of criminal justice system” and putting the public, fellow prison officers and other inmates at risk.
