Judge attacks prison as senior officer jailed for inmate affair

Recorder Carl Gumsley attacked what has been dubbed the “Lindholme syndrome” where prisoners allegedly had easy access to tobacco and telephones.

One inmate said he preferred HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, to a hostel because it was more comfortable.

The judge said: “I urge the authorities to investigate what was going on in this establishment as soon as possible and to ensure that, if any of the allegations are true, they are dealt with accordingly.”

Senior prison officer Rachel Klein, 29, who wrote love letters to a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence for manslaughter, was jailed for 18 months.

Klein started a relationship with killer Steven Chapman, 27, in early 2010, Doncaster Crown Court heard yesterday.

Carl Fitch, prosecuting, said she secretly exchanged love letters with the killer and spent long periods of time with him in her office.

The couple also regularly kissed and held hands.

As favours, Klein smuggled Chapman tobacco, allowed him to make unauthorised telephone calls and took him £90 in postal orders as prison currency.

She also allowed him to look over her shoulder as she accessed confidential information on the computer in her office.

Their affair eventually became known among inmates, and Klein continued to write to Chapman even after she got engaged to another prison officer.

She was arrested in May 2010 but claimed she did not give Chapman any preferential treatment.

Former Lindholme inmate Michael Fieldhouse, 34, was cleared of blackmail and conspiracy to supply drugs to another prisoner earlier this month.

It was alleged he obtained some of the love letters and threatened to reveal all if Klein did not smuggle drugs into the jail, but a jury took under an hour to find him not guilty.

Klein, of Stripe Road, Rossington, Doncaster, admitted an offence of misconduct in public office before the start of Fieldhouse’s trial.Chapman admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis into the prison.

Tim Savage, for Klein, said she had lost a job she loved and she felt she had “let down” her parents, who had both been prison governors.

“Her sense of shame, humiliation and regret is palpable”, he said.

Mr Savage said Klein felt “flattered and excited” after being given a letter by Chapman.

She then got involved in smuggling tobacco for Chapman into the jail “which has a reputation for a very relaxed atmosphere,” said Mr Savage.

Patrick Thompson, for Chapman, said he was the victim of his own involvement.

He had been switched to a Category D prisoner instead of moving to an open prison and had served 29 months over his tariff.

Recorder Gumsley jailed both Klein and Chapman for 18 months each.

He told Klein it was a “wholly inappropriate” relationship and the tobacco and phone calls aggravated the offence.

The judge aid: “True feelings for someone is not a crime, but you were a prison officer. It was your duty to protect and you undermined the prison regime.

“This was a gross breach of trust of prisoners, your fellow officers, the prison system and the public at large.”