Bridgend: Accused prison guard says she feared for life

Ruth Shmylo is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate while working as a prison officer

A former prison officer accused of having phone sex with a prisoner broke down in tears as she described thinking she "was going to die" following threats from the drug dealer inmate.

Ruth Shmylo, 26, who said she felt terrified of Harri Pullen, told a jury she felt she "had no choice" but to communicate with him after he phoned her.

"He said, 'I've got you now'," she testified at Cardiff Crown Court.

She denies misconduct in public office.

Miss Shmylo, of Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with Pullen between December 2020 and April 2021, when her probation period as a prison officer came to an end.

She told the court she first became aware of his links to organised crime when he was moved onto the wing where she worked.

She said she was confused when Pullen passed her his mobile phone number.

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When she pushed the piece of paper back she recalled Pullen saying: "'Do you know what you've just done'?"

"At the time I was just trying to understand what happened… I couldn't come to terms with it."

Asked by defence barrister Clare Wilks why she did not report the incident, Miss Shmylo said: "He would have known it was me.

"I know it would have come with repercussions because of who he is."

'I had no choice'

She also told the court she had "absolutely no faith in the reporting system at HMP Parc" after being sexually harassed by inmates and colleagues and feeling afraid to say anything.

Asked about the first time Pullen called her from an unknown number, she said she "knew immediately" that it was him.

"He said, 'I've got your number now'. I said 'yes'."

She asked 'why are you doing this?', to which she said he replied: "I just need to speak to you… you're a prison officer, so what you gonna do?

"He said 'I've got you now,' that was one of the last things he said," added Miss Shmylo.

Ms Wilks asked: "And what did you feel then?"

"Like I had no choice, that was it," responded Miss Shmylo, sobbing.

Asked why she did not report the call, Miss Shmylo responded: "There was no-one for me to tell, my senior manager had outed me as a whistle-blower.

"It would have got back it was me… there was no safe option for me to report."

Miss Shmylo then described how Pullen would call her "almost every day", and would make threats if she did not answer him.

On one occasion, she claimed he said "I'll kill you and kill them" if he found out that she had a partner.

"Did you believe them?" asked Ms Wilks about the threats. "Absolutely," replied Miss Shmylo.

Later, she said Pullen told her he could send her a sim card, and "started to quote my home address".

"I thought he would send someone to my house, so I went and bought a sim card," said Miss Shmylo.

"What did he want from you?" asked Miss Wilks. "He said he needed to speak to me, he was fixated on me as a person," said Miss Shmylo.

Asked whether anything sexual or physical had occurred between the two in prison, Miss Shmylo answered: "No."

She also described going to meeting set up by Pullen with someone she thought was a member of a organised crime group "who was going to teach me a lesson".

"I thought I was going to die."

Miss Shmylo was also asked about the evidence previously heard from consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Owen Davies about her childhood trauma.

She said that her father had been abusive, but had left the family home when she was 11 and she had not seen him since.

Dr Davies testified Miss Shmylo had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from "significant" childhood abuse, adding this could have affected her decision making,

"It would make her more disposed to think that threats are not just threats," he said, adding she would be more likely to believe "that real harm" could occur.

"Her experience from years of trauma is that physical violence is a real possibility."

The case continues.