Jailed prison officer who was caught sneaking into cupboard with inmate demands law change

A prison officer who was jailed after admitting she 'fell in love' with an inmate is campaigning for a change in the law.

Morgan Farr Varney was sentenced to ten months behind bars after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office when her romance with an inmate at HMP Lindholme was rumbled.

CCTV footage captured the 25-year-old sneaking into a cupboard with the prisoner, while love letters from her were also found in his cell at the Category C jail, according to the BBC.

Farr Varney, who had worked at the prison since April 2022, was arrested in January 2023 and told cops she had 'proper fell in love' with the inmate.

She resigned from her role after being released on bail, while the man was transferred to another prison.

Following her own stint in jail - which she has described as 'the hardest experience of her life' - Farr Varney has now launched a campaign to raise the minimum age of UK prison officers.

Currently, you have to be at least 18 to be employed in prisons, although you can submit an application for a job from the age of 17.

In a petition shared to Change.org, Farr Varney explained that she was 'young and eager to prove herself' when she first joined the prison service, but 'naive' to the reality of what working in a jail is really like.

"I didn’t yet understand how power dynamics, emotional manipulation, and psychological pressure could affect a person, especially someone still finding their identity and confidence," she wrote.

Farr Varney struck up a relationship with an inmate while she was working at HMP Lindholme, a Category C prison in South Yorkshire (ITV)

"Over time, I found myself caught in a situation that I was not emotionally equipped to handle. I was manipulated, subtly and gradually, until I could no longer see the boundaries I was crossing.

"The consequences of that manipulation were life-changing. I lost three years of my life, defended my abuser, endured imprisonment myself, and suffered immense personal and emotional trauma."

The former prison officer, from Stainforth, said she believes that things could have been different if 'proper measures of support had been in place'.

She complained that she did not feel comfortable confiding in management and said there was 'no safe space to express confusion, doubt or fear' at work.

"I accept responsibility for my actions, but I also know that what happened to me was not solely a matter of personal failure," Farr Varney continued.

"It was the product of a system that placed a young, inexperienced person in a position of authority without adequate emotional or psychological safeguards.

"If I had been older, more mature, more aware of manipulation tactics, and better supported and trained, I genuinely believe my life would have taken a very different course.

"That is why I am advocating for change: to raise the minimum age of UK prison officers."

She warned that it is 'unfair and unsafe' to place 'young, impressionable individuals, often barely out of adolescence, in such positions of responsibility and risk'.

"I am speaking now because I do not want anyone else to lose years of their life the way I did," she said.

The 24-year-old says she was 'manipulated' by the inmate but felt that she had no where to turn (Facebook)

"Raising the minimum age for prison officers is not about excluding young people; it is about protecting them and protecting the integrity of the system itself.

"I hope my story helps bring awareness to the urgent need for reform. No young person should be set up to fail in an environment that demands maturity far beyond their years.

"It is time for change. It is time to protect both staff and prisoners from the avoidable harm that comes from inexperience and systemic oversight."

Reflecting on the consequences she faced after her relationship with the inmate was exposed, she recalled how she battled 'humiliation, loss, isolation, and the harsh reality of what it means to have no control over your future'.

"I also endured the public judgment that came with seeing my story turned into dramatised headlines, full of exaggerations, omissions, and outright lies," Farr Varney said.

"The media painted me as a scandal, not a young woman who had been vulnerable and manipulated within a system that failed to protect her."

Her petition has currently racked up 310 signatures of support. You can find out more about it here.

A spokesperson for the Prison Service told LADbible: "The majority of prison staff are honest and hard-working, regardless of their age.

"We are catching more of the minority who break the rules through our Counter-Corruption Unit and stronger vetting. Where officers fall below our high standards, we do not hesitate to take robust action.”

Last year, a former prison officer at HMP Wandsworth was filmed having sex with an inmate and footage of the act later went viral on social media, which led to her being charged.

Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, pleaded to misconduct in public office in July last year and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.