![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEC_281039343-c510.jpg\")
\n\t\tPrison officer Rebecca Pinckard (left) and tutor Melissa Murphy (right) were both caught in intimate relationships with inmates (Picture: SWNS\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPrison officer Rebecca Pinckard (left) and tutor Melissa Murphy (right) were both caught in intimate relationships with inmates (Picture: SWNS\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
Two prison workers have been sentenced today for having inappropriate relationships with inmates \u2013 including oral sex and sending erotic letters.<\/p>\n
Prison officer Rebecca Pinckard, 46, was caught performing a sex act on prisoner Erion Nakdi on her own body camera in a store cupboard at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk<\/a> in July. <\/p>\n Melissa\u00a0Murphy, 49, who was working as a tutor at HMP Chelmsford, Essex<\/a>, and was engaged to someone else, was sending erotic letters to Gavon Smith. <\/p>\n She was caught by a colleague in December 2023 \u2018with a flushed upper chest\u2019 in a locked room with the prisoner. <\/p>\n Both women were jailed for eight months today. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n Pinckard, a mum, was captured performing a sex act on Nakdi in two video clips filmed five minutes apart on her own body-worn camera, which Judge Anthony Cartin said \u2018was not a one off\u2019. <\/p>\n \t\t \t\t Sexual videos of Nakdi from his prison cell were also discovered on Pinckard\u2019s phone<\/a>. She had also sent him a Moonpig card in April. <\/p>\n The judge said: \u2018[Murphy was] only discovered because of a clumsy mistake. <\/p>\n \u2018Your camera had been activated during the intimate encounter. The offence wasn\u2019t a one-off \u2013 it went on for a number of months and the card was sent.\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Murphy\u00a0admitted writing love letters and locking herself in a workshop with the inmate but denied any physical relationship.<\/p>\n Judge Jamie Sawyer said that, on December 8 2023,\u00a0Murphy\u00a0requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop where she taught industrial cleaning despite there being no scheduled class that day.<\/p>\n \u2018This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room, appearing flustered when the door was opened,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n Judge Jamie Sawyer said that, on December 8 2023,\u00a0Murphy\u00a0requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop despite there being no scheduled class that day.<\/p>\n \u2018This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room, appearing flustered when the door was opened,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u2018You held a position of trust within a prison and abused that trust by engaging in a romantic relationship with a prisoner, exposing yourself to corruption and undermining confidence in the prison system.\u2019<\/p>\n He added: \u2018The victim here, and in my judgement there is a victim, is the public.<\/p>\n \u2018Confidence in the prison system is essential. And your actions have further eroded that confidence, particularly at HMP Chelmsford.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Main](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_281041521-4d8f.jpg\")
\n\t\tA picture officers found next to Murphy\u2019s bed of Gavon Smith (Picture: Essex Police)<\/p>\n![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_281018419-d1a2-e1768590339140.jpg\")
\n\t\tMelissa\u00a0Murphy, 49, who was working as a tutor at HMP Chelmsford, Essex, and was engaged to someone else, was sending erotic letters (Picture: Newsquest\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
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