A Ghanaian-born senior jail officer based mostly in the UK, Tracy Boateng, has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence by the Snaresbrook Crown Courtroom after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with an inmate at HMP Pentonville in North London.
Boateng, 27, who holds UK citizenship, was arrested following an investigation that uncovered physique digital camera footage and cell phone data exhibiting she had developed a romantic relationship with 34-year-old inmate Vincent Ojo, a convicted Nigerian drug trafficker.
The footage confirmed Boateng kissing Ojo in her workplace and breaching a number of safety protocols, together with sneaking him into restricted areas and disclosing delicate data, similar to employees rosters.
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Based on studies, Boateng’s authorized staff said that she requested Ojo’s switch to a different wing after feeling threatened by him.
This request adopted the invention of a banned mobile phone in Ojo’s cell and an alleged risk, throughout which Ojo claimed to know the place she lived.
She pleaded responsible to a cost of misconduct in public workplace, with UK media quoting the cost as:
Wilfully and with out affordable excuse or justification misconducted your self in a approach which amounted to an abuse of the general public’s belief within the officeholder by participating in an inappropriate relationship with Vincent Ojo.
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Though the courtroom acknowledged the intense nature of the offence, the presiding decide thought of Boateng’s private circumstances, together with her obligations as a mom and the absence of childcare help following her separation from the kid’s father.
These mitigating components influenced the choice to droop her sentence.
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Boateng, who holds a grasp’s diploma in criminology, had risen by way of the ranks of the jail service in simply 4 years and had accomplished specialised coaching in counter-corruption.
The case highlights the continued challenges throughout the prison system in stopping staff-inmate misconduct and sustaining institutional integrity.
