Shania Begum has been jailed for 16 months(Picture: SWNS)
A prison officer has been jailed after being caught on camera having sex with an inmate in a store cupboard.
Shania Begum began arousing suspicion at HMP Birmingham and staff hid a camera to catch her in the act with with prisoner Joshua Mullings.
The pair were caught flirting, which led to ‘heavy petting’ and full sexual intercourse in a cupboard which prisoners were in charge of tidying in September 2022.
The 25-year-old even ignored her work radio while she was with him, and was interrupted by a colleague who said she had been gone for an hour.
She claimed Mullings ‘cherished’ her at a time when she had been arranged to be married to another man who was ‘controlling’.
Begum, from Telford, admitted misconduct in a public office at Birmingham Crown Court and was jailed for 16 months.
Judge John Butterfield KC said such behavior was an ‘utter repudiation of the trust placed in you’.
He said: ‘It has the potential and actual corrosive impact on the stability and welfare of the prison estate. It is a clear and present risk to good order.’
The 25-year-old claimed Mullings ‘cherished’ her(Picture: Joseph Walshe/SWNS)
Begum had worked at HMP Birmingham since 2018 and had carried out internet searches about Mullings and his family.
Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft said: ‘Intelligence gathered from July 2022 appeared to show the defendant was having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate called Joshua Mullings.
‘It suggested it was intimate and taking place within the store cupboard in the prison grounds.’
‘Initially they were alone together, playfighting and flirting. The acts ranged from heavy petting to penetrative sexual activity; Ms Begum giving the inmate oral sex on at least two occasions and full sexual intercourse on at least one occasion.
Begum, from Telford, admitted misconduct in a public office at Birmingham Crown Court(Picture: West Midlands Police/SWNS)
‘The defendant was seen and heard to be interrupted by the work radio which she ignored. She was also interrupted by fellow prison staff. She was approached by one member of staff saying he had been looking for her for an hour.’
Andrew Baker, defending, said: ‘She is almost at a loss to explain her conduct. She is deeply remorseful. Perhaps there is some explanation by the circumstances of her upbringing. She had what can only be described as a wretched childhood.’
He stated Begum had been acting as a carer for her mother and older sister due to their health as well as her two younger sisters. Mr Baker continued: ‘At the time of this offence pressure had been applied upon her to enter into an arranged marriage.
‘The man who she was arranged to marry was relatively controlling. He manipulated where she went, controlled her time and dictated who she spoke to outside normal circumstances.
‘She will point to that being the factor that led to her acting in this totally out of character way. She felt cherished in this relationship which doubtless was exploitative.’
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Staff set up a hidden camera to try and catch her in the act.