HMP Altcourse: Prison officer who 'got together' with inmate jailed

Lucy Thornton stored Aaron Whittaker's contact in her mobile phone as "My Baby"

A prison officer who "got together" with an inmate and paid off his drug debt has been jailed after admitting misconduct in a public office.

Lucy Thornton "fell in love" with Aaron Whittaker while working at HMP Altcourse, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The 28-year-old admitted having inappropriate relationships with him, his brother and a third prisoner.

Thornton, who had a child with Whittaker while he was on parole, was jailed for 10 months.

Simon Duncan, prosecuting, told the court there were hundreds of calls and text messages between Thornton, of Orford, Warrington, Cheshire, and both Aaron and his brother Haden Whittaker while they were serving sentences for wounding and burglary at the Merseyside prison.

'Effectively ruined'

He said intelligence emerged of inappropriate relationships in March and April 2019, which Thornton then denied to the prison's security governor Mark Jones in the following May.

However, Aaron Whittaker's cell was searched on the same day as she spoke to Mr Jones and a piece of paper with her phone number was discovered, the court heard.

Mobile phones were also found in the brothers' cells.

In June 2019, Thornton was suspended after a "play fight" with another inmate saw her rolling around on the floor, Mr Duncan said, adding that she was arrested a month later.

The court was told a phone recovered from Thornton's home had Aaron Whittaker's number stored as "My Baby" and she was found to have transferred £200 into a bank account to settle a drugs debt for him.

Mr Duncan said there was no evidence of sexual activity in the prison, but when Aaron Whittaker was released in November 2019, the pair "got together" and Thornton gave birth to their son in 2020.

Thornton told police they had developed mutual feelings in February 2019, but were no longer in a relationship.

Anthony O'Donohoe, defending, said she "fell in love with the wrong person in the wrong place", adding that she was a woman of good character, whose future prospects were "effectively ruined".

Sentencing her, Judge Neil Flewitt QC said while a jail term would have significant impact on her son, it was important to deter other prison officers "tempted to betray the trust placed in them".

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