Prison officer's bra-smuggling plot to get pregnant by rapist inmate lover
A female prison officer devised a bizarre plot with an inmate to get pregnant involving a an empty Calpol syringe in her bra after becoming infatuated with him. Cherri-Ann Austin-Saddington got to know 'exceptionally dangerous' sex offender Bradley Trengrove after he was moved to HMP The Verne on Portland, Dorset.
They embarked on a six month relationship which i nvolved them often having sex in prison workshops while nobody was around.The 29-year-old prison warden had sex with the convicted rapist up to 40 times while on duty and even got pregnant by Trengrove, although she later lost the baby.
During the affair Austin-Saddington smuggled a mobile phone into the Category C prison for her lover so they could communicate. A court heard the mother-of-three saved his name in her mobile under 'husband to be'.
When Trengrove, 31, was moved to another prison she visited him using a fake name. She was so infatuated with the convict that she went along with the plan to get pregnant again.
She smuggled in an empty Calpol syringe in her bra during a visit to the prison so she could artificially inseminate herself with his sperm he had wrapped in cling film for her.y
Austin-Saddington, from Weymouth, was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges of misconduct in a public office only because she has been left wheelchair-bound having suffered a fall following her crimes. Trengrove, from Cramborne, Cornwall, was already serving a 13 year extended jail sentence for raping a woman and having sexual activity with a child in 2013 and 2014.
Trengrove was given another two years and three months to serve on top of his original sentence for his part in the sordid affair. Bournemouth Crown Court heard Austin-Saddington started working as a prison officer at The Verne in July 2019.
She was given a written warning in 2020 for concerns over her professionalism and interaction with prisoners. Her probationary period was extended because she was suspected of having an inappropriate relationship with two prisoners.
Austin-Saddington began a relationship with Trengrove in about August 2022 with him telling police they had sex 30-40 times in a workshop at the prison. Robert Bryan, prosecuting, read out some gushing messages the prison officer sent Trengrove stating he was 'the one', that she would love him 'til my last breath' and he was her 'reason for living'.
Mr Bryan said: "He said things moved on from being friendly in August-September 2022. He said 'I did maintenance work around the prison, there were lots of workshops, we would meet down at the workshops where less people were around.
"It got to the point she was coming in for work on days off and we would work together for three or four hours at a time.' He said they had unprotected sex 30-40 times. She told him in November she was pregnant with his baby. He encouraged her to be less risky but she said that would mean less opportunity to meet.
"She lost the baby at about eight weeks. " Trengrove was moved HMP Channings Wood in Devon in March 2023. Austin-Sadddington sent Trengrove intimate photos while he was at Channings Wood, but these were intercepted by staff.
On May 26 she visited him under a false name. During a pat down search officers found she was not wearing any underwear and had the empty syringe in her bra and she was arrested. Emily Cook, defending Austin-Saddington, argued that her client shouldn't be jailed due to her ill-health.
She said: "She had this incredibly devastating physical event that has occurred since her offending. In February 2024, her then partner awoke to find her on the floor. She doesn't know how but something was going on with her spine.
"She is wheelchair-dependent. She has had her liberty curtailed for many months, not by the court but by her ill health. You can see from the messaging, they formed a very intense and infatuated relationship. She takes full responsibility for what she did. She is very ashamed and upset.
"You are not sentencing the woman who committed these offences, she's a very different woman now." Nick Robinson, defending Trengrove, said it was a 'genuine infatuation', he was not corrupting her.
He said: "Everything was driven towards having conversation with someone he genuinely cared about. Before this he was a good prisoner, working hard towards the earliest possible release. He knew what he was doing, his heart ruled his head."
Austin-Saddington was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months with 25 rehabilitation activity days. Trengrove admitted encouraging or assisting her in the misconduct, having a mobile phone inside prison and using it for 'unauthorised transmission of images or sound'.
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