A prison guard had sex with a convicted robber inside a prayer room before facilitating a drug smuggling plot, a jury at Southwark Crown Court heard today.
Ex-prison officer Isabelle Dale, 23, is accused of two counts of misconduct in public office and one count of conspiracy to smuggle drugs into prison alongside co-defendants Leila Sallis and inmate lover Shahid Sharif, a convicted robber currently serving 12 years behind bars.
At trial today, the jury was told of CCTV footage that captured the pair entering a prayer room while two other inmates kept watch. The pair emerged four minutes later, with Dale said to be seen “re-adjusting her belt area”.
Dale later received a message from Sharif, saying: “It was good sharing that love today. Your pussy is amazing.”
The pair was said to have kept in contact after Sharif was transferred to a different prison, with Dale visiting on three occasions between September and October 2022 – including once after her initial arrest in the visiting room.
Setting out the Crown’s case, prosecutor Kieran Brand KC said: “This case concerns allegations of prison corruption and the smuggling into prison of drugs and telephones.”
He told jurors how Dale, while serving as a prison officer at HMP Coldingley, facilitated a conspiracy to smuggle carbon paper soaked in a synthetic cannabinoid disguised as envelopes into the prison where Sharif was being held.
In a phone call, Sharif was said to have told Dale: “There is nothing to worry about, there is no risk,” adding: “This is the only way I get big money.”
Jurors were told how, using Sharif’s Snapchat account, Dale had arranged a meeting in Brighton to collect the drugs from his associate and co-defendant Sallis. Unbeknownst to Dale, Sallis was hospitalised on the day, and the meeting did not go ahead.
Reassuring Sharif, Dale was said to have told the convicted robber that she would “give her life for him.” She was said to have made further deals on behalf of Sharif, taking instructions from inside the prison.
Upon Dale’s arrest, an engagement ring was found amongst her belongings, which the Crown said was “clear evidence” that the pair was engaged in an intimate relationship.
However, jurors were told more sexually charged exchanges were found on Dale’s phone with “at least” one other inmate, identified by police as Connor Money, 28, currently serving nine years in prison for death by dangerous driving.
Dale is expected to deny that she has had sexual relations with prison inmates and therefore does not meet the criminal standard of misconduct in public office.
Both Dale and Sallis had pleaded not guilty to conspiring to smuggle controlled drugs into a prison, even though Sharif had pleaded guilty to the charge.
The trial continues, and is expected to run into early next week.