A former HMP Wandsworth prison officer who was filmed having sex with an inmate has been jailed for 15 months.
Linda De Sousa Abreu of Fulham, south-west London, was charged after a video of the activity circulated on social media.
The governor of Wandsworth said Abreu’s actions had taken “less than a day” to undo the many years of work on behalf of female staff in all-male prisons.
In a partial written statement to Isleworth Crown Court, Andrew Davy, the governor of Wandsworth, said many female staff at the prison had reported an increase in being “hit on” by inmates and were now “considered fair game”.
A police investigation was launched and De Sousa Abreu was arrested and pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office at Isleworth Crown Court in July 2024.
She appeared at the same court on Monday wearing a grey suit and white shirt, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
During her sentence, Judge Martin Edmunds KC told De Sousa Abreu: “You engaged in sexual activity with a prisoner. That compromised your role as an officer, and was misconduct which undermines discipline within the prison, and puts fellow officers at increased risk.
“You knew that conduct was forbidden and forbidden for good reason.
“Wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder by engaging in a sexual act with a prisoner in a prison cell”.
The court heard that De Sousa Abreu, who had a history of poor mental health and trauma, had consented to sexual activity with Linton Weirich at Wandsworth on June 25 2024.
The 30-year-old also agreed to a second prisoner being present and filming the activity while appearing to smoke cannabis.
The second prisoner later sent the video to a friend who shared it on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The prison officer attempted to escape to her family in Madeira, seeing the clip had gone viral, however she was arrested at Heathrow Airport after notifying the prison of her travel plans.
Judge Edmunds continued: “From what I know about you, you were certainly not naive about the media or social media.
“It must have been obvious that the recording would be shown around and shared, at least amongst prisoners at Wandsworth where it would do the most harm.
“Whether you intended it or not, the fact is that the video went viral, and caused great harm.
“Many offenders do not intend the harm that their offending causes, but they nevertheless bear responsibility for it.”
Judge Edmunds concluded: “The consequence of the recording going viral, a result that you did not intend but which was certainly a consequence of your offence, has been that prison officers have faced heckling and harassment.
“They have been confronted with sexualised images falsely suggesting that your conduct is typical.
“Children of your fellow female prison officers have been teased as to what their mothers may do at work.
“It is inevitable that the damage for which you were responsible at Wandsworth has spread, to some degree, through the prison estate.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “While the overwhelming majority of Prison Service staff are hardworking and honest, we’re catching more of the small minority who break the rules by bolstering our Counter Corruption Unit and strengthening our vetting processes.
“As today’s sentencing demonstrates, where officers do fall below our high standards we won’t hesitate to take robust action.”