British prison officer admits to inappropriate months-long relationship with inmate
Megan Breen, 23, made the shocking admission in a Welsh court, becoming the latest of more than a dozen UK prison workers charged with similar conduct in recent years, the Telegraph reported.
Breen initially denied the allegations before owning up to the affair, while the prisoner involved remains unnamed.
Advertisement
Megan Breen admitted to the inappropriate relationship after initially denying the affair
Exactly what happened between Breen and the inmate remains unclear.
But their relationship was carried out between February and May 2022, while Breen was working at two South Wales prisons — HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed.
Advertisement
Prescoed is a minimum security prison, according to the Telegraph, while Usk is a tighter security facility that houses the likes of sex offenders.
It also remains unclear which prison the relationship happened at.
'While acting as a public officer, namely a prison officer, willfully and without reasonable excuse or justification, [you] misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder by having a relationship with a prisoner,' Breen's charges read.
Breen could face prison time after owning up to the affair with an inmate at a prison where she worked.
Advertisement
She was released on bail until her sentencing next month.
'All sentencing options' are on the table, Judge Carl Harrison ahead of her release.
Exactly how much time she faces remains unclear, but people convicted of misconduct in a public office in the UK can be sentenced to life in prison.
Advertisement
Breen is only the latest UK prison worker to be caught canoodling with an inmate in the past few years.
At least 19 prison staffers were charged with inappropriate conduct between 2023 and 2024, according to the UK Ministry of Justice.
Some of their sentences — for charges including having sex with inmates, or transferring money on an inmate's behalf — were 12 to 21 month prison terms, the Mirror reported.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
11 hours ago
- New York Post
‘Fairly unexceptional' US lady hired as hitwoman is convicted in attempted UK slay
A 'fairly unexceptional' Wisconsin woman was convicted of attempted murder Tuesday after she was shockingly hired to kill a British storeowner — and failed only because her gun jammed. Aimee Betro, 45, of West Allis, WI, was part of a slay plot targeting Sikander Ali outside his home in Birmingham, England, on Sept. 7, 2019, UK authorities said. The planned hit was triggered by a fight at a Birmingham clothing boutique owned by Ali's father, Aslat Mahumad, in July 2018 which left two men — Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31 — injured, a jury was told. Betro had previously met Nazir on a dating app. '[Betro was] a fairly unexceptional individual. On the face of it, a normal-looking individual, prepared to do an outrageous, audacious and persistent murder,' said Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas from West Midlands Police's major crime unit to BBC News. 4 'Fairly unexceptional' Aimee Betro of Wisconsin has been found guilty of trying to shoot a UK storeowner. Dramatic security footage from the shooting scene showed Betro, who had almost no previous 'criminal footprint,' approaching Ali's car and firing her gun at him at point-blank range, prosecutors said. Betro allegedly hid her identity at the time using a headscarf. But her gun jammed, allowing Ali to flee, prosecutors said. Betro later allegedly goaded Ali's father Mahumad by text. 'Where are you hiding?' she texted the dad. 'Stop playing hide and seek, you are lucky it jammed.' 4 Betro was extradited from Armenia to face a British court in January. Hours later, Betro took a taxi to Ali's home and fired three gunshots at the property, which was empty at the time, before flying home to the US the next day. Betro had allegedly traveled to the UK on two previous occasions after meeting Nazir on an app. 4 Betro was hired by Mohammed Nazir and his father to kill a man in Birmingham, England. West Midlands Police/SWNS Calling her crimes 'brazen,' Orencas said there didn't 'seem to be a whole lot of effort to avoid detection.' In October 2019, just weeks after the bizarre failed murder bid, Betro took part in another of Nazir's revenge plots on a rival, authorities said. She mailed three parcels of ammunition and gun parts to the UK, addressed to a man in the central English city of Derby, with the plan being that Nazir would tip off police and frame him for the crime, they said. 4 Nazir's father, Mohammed Aslam, was sentenced over the plot, too. West Midlands Police/SWNS The innocent man was arrested but later released without charge after Nazir's 'devious scheme' came to light, prosecutors said. Betro's DNA was found on the gun parts and ammo inside the box, and she was seen in security footage at a post office 100 miles from her home sending the parcels under a fake name, the jury was told. She tried to claim that the woman in the footage wasn't her, but just someone who dressed, looked and sounded like her. Nazir and Aslam were jailed for 32 years and 10 years respectively in November for their role in the planned hit, while Betro was extradited from Armenia, where she was living, in January to face trial in the UK. Wearing a purple t-shirt and with her hair in space buns, Betro appeared emotionless as she was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to cause fear of violence, and illegally importing ammunition. She was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced Aug. 21.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Student calls hospital worker 'Welsh c***' then asks 'how is that racist?'
A student called a hospital security guard a "f***ing Welsh c***" then argued the remark was not racist. But Layla Ahmed would later admit her outburst at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales was racially abusive. The 20-year-old psychology student had attended the Heath hospital on December 8 last year with her sister, who "was having seizures", defence solicitor Amelia Butt told Cardiff Magistrates' Court. "This can be seen in footage where she is seen to be having a seizure on the floor in the background," Ms Butt added. "Miss Ahmed was frustrated at staff not being able to treat her sister and she accepts she made comments solely out of desperation in the heat of the moment." READ MORE: Crooked finance manager who stole £140,000 from employers to pay back £72,000 READ MORE: Exact time to spot the Perseid meteor shower from the UK tomorrow Prosecutor Nicholas Evans said the defendant became aggressive and was asked to leave by a security guard. Ahmed then said to the security guard: "You f***ing Welsh c***." When he asked her to stop using racist language she replied: "How is that racist? You're white. You're Welsh." The student, of Catherine Street in Cathays, pleaded guilty to racially-aggravated harassment. Ms Butt said her client had been worried about what would happen to her sister. "She is remorseful," the solicitor told the court. "She accepts she should not have said what she said. She is 20 years old and has never been arrested before or since." Ahmed receives a student loan of £3,400 every four months and has been working part-time as a support worker earning around £100 per week. "I don't agree it was a substantial disturbance," said Ms Butt. "It was not a situation where other intervention or additional assistance was required." Passing sentence District Judge Rhys Williams said: "You were frustrated by the situation. You were asked to leave by the security guard and you used abusive language towards him. "That language included a racial element and it was directed at a security guard who was only doing his job in that situation." The judge imposed a £120 fine, £50 compensation to the victim, £85 in prosecution costs, and a £48 victim services surcharge. Ahmed must pay at a rate of at least £20 per month.
San Francisco Chronicle
18 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Former Premier League referee Coote gets 8-week ban for offensive comments about Klopp
LONDON (AP) — Former Premier League referee David Coote has been banned for eight weeks and ordered to take a face-to-face education program for making offensive comments about Jürgen Klopp in a private video that ended up being widely circulated on social media, leading to the match official getting fired. Coote admitted to a Football Association charge of acting 'in an improper manner' and/or using 'abusive and/or insulting words' in a video recorded around July 2020. Two videos, apparently filmed using a phone, circulated on social media appearing to show Coote giving his personal opinion on Liverpool and Klopp, its long-time former manager, when asked by an unidentified man. Coote uses an expletive for Liverpool and a derogatory term for Klopp, saying he disliked the German manager because he was 'arrogant' and 'accused me of lying' after one game. The FA charge including an allegation that Coote's actions constituted an 'aggravated breach' of rules because they 'included a reference — whether express or implied — to nationality.' An independent regulatory commission announced on Tuesday it had imposed the new sanctions on Coote following a hearing. Coote was initially suspended for his conduct and then fired in December because his position was deemed 'untenable' by English soccer's referees body following an investigation into his conduct. Coote was also investigated by the FA following allegations in British newspaper The Sun that he discussed with a fan the possibility of giving a yellow card to a player in a match. The former referee denied any wrongdoing and the FA said in June that no charges were issued in relation to that investigation. Separately, UEFA launched an investigation into Coote following a video, again published by The Sun, allegedly showing him using cocaine during the European Championship this year. ___
