She was a prison officer. He was a convicted rapist. How did she fall for him?

"There was a moment in the summer of 2022 when 26-year-old Cherrie-Ann Austin-Saddington, a female prison officer in a men's jail, had to make a choice. She was on her wing at HMP The Verne in Dorset, in the day room where inmates go to read books and newspapers, when a prisoner called Bradley Trengrove handed her a magazine. Concealed within its pages was a slip of paper with a number written on it the number of his secret, illicit mobile phone."

"I was thinking, do I report it? Do I not report it? she says. I wasn't thinking, I'll text him that wasn't in my head. But she did not throw the piece of paper away. She kept it, and in the end decided not to report anything. It was the first in a series of catastrophic choices that would lead Austin-Saddington to a sexual relationship with Trengrove, and transform her from a prison officer into a convicted criminal,"

"Austin-Saddington is one of dozens of prison officers in recent years to enter into sexual relationships with the inmates they were supposed to be guarding. In response to a freedom of information request, the Ministry of Justice told me 64 prison staff have been recommended for dismissal because of inappropriate relationships with prisoners between 31 March 2019 and 1 April 2024. This is likely to be a fraction of the true number."

In summer 2022, 26-year-old prison officer Cherrie-Ann Austin-Saddington received a magazine from prisoner Bradley Trengrove containing a slip with the number of an illicit mobile phone. She kept the paper and chose not to report it, later entering a sexual relationship with Trengrove that led to her criminal conviction and potential custodial sentence. The case reveals flaws in staff recruitment, management, and duty of care within the prison system. Between 31 March 2019 and 1 April 2024, 64 prison staff were recommended for dismissal over inappropriate relationships with prisoners, likely undercounting the true scale.

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