An acting prison governor has been convicted of misconduct in a public office after having a sexual relationship with an inmate.
Russell Thorne (left) and Simon Dykes both denied charges of misconduct in public officeRussell Thorne, 41, of Sutton, London, had the relationship at Downview women's prison, from 2006 to 2010.
He was cleared of another misconduct charge at Guildford Crown Court.
Co-defendant Simon Dykes, 45, of Woking, Surrey, was cleared of three out of six misconduct charges he faced. Verdicts are awaited on three counts.
'Professional suicide'
During the trial, jurors heard Thorne, of Sinclair Drive, demanded the frightened inmate perform a sex act on him, telling her "it's an order".
The court heard the woman fell in love with the prison officer but felt she had to comply with his demands for fear of losing perks that came out of their relationship.
She told the court contraception was not used but she was paranoid she might end up pregnant, and Thorne provided her with laxatives in an attempt to prevent this.
Charges denied by Dykes, of The Paddock, Westcott, related to allegations of sex acts with six women at the jail.
Four accused him of sleeping with them and two others claimed he touched one of them and masturbated outside the other's cell.
The defendant, who was previously in the Army and had also been a fireman, said such behaviour would have been "professional suicide".
'Vulnerable young woman'
Thorne is due to be sentenced at a later date.
After Thorne was convicted, a Prison Service spokesman said: "We take the issue of staff corruption and inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously."
Det Insp Jo Sidaway, from Surrey Police, said: "I hope that this result brings confidence that those entrusted with the care of vulnerable women will be brought to justice if they abuse their position.
And Mark Leech, editor of Converse, the national newspaper for prisoners, said: "Russell Thorne is the worst kind of prison governor.
"He used his position of power to obtain sexual favours from a vulnerable young woman who clearly felt they had no choice."
The case was adjourned until Monday when jurors will continue to consider the outstanding charges against Dykes, who was granted bail.
An absolutely appalling and almost unbelievable abuse of trust. The Probation Officer involved in writing the report and supervising such a case will undoubtedly earn their salary over the coming months and years. In cases like this, even though custody is inevitable, it is vital that the sentencing court has a full Pre Sentence Report that both helps explain the background and is able to inform later sentence progression. The opportunity for minimisation, obfuscation or victim-blaming further down the line must be avoided at all costs in my experience.
ReplyDeleteHaving been a prisoner at Downview at the time of these goings on.....and they WERE going on....im glad the world finally knows. Hopefully other things will come to light now about Downview prison too!
ReplyDeleteThere were many more involved - not just R.Thorne.
ReplyDeleteThe female officers with a few exceptions, were particularly bad.
Lesbian officers in A-wing were 'comforting' prisoners by lying on their (the prisoner's) bed with them.
Hope Downview is just a start.
All the prisons in England need to be checked for this sort of crime.
What was discovered reently is not even the tip of the iceberg.
And some screws at downview prison got accused lost jobs when they were innocent... There are two sides to every story.. Although this latest one is true... I agree prisoners should not be used like pieces of meat BUT not every prison officer is a sex pest... Glad they were caught, shame that downview lost some xlent screws through LIES
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