Prison officer called prisoner's secret mobile and had phone sex, jury told

A prison officer is accused of having “phone sex” with a serving inmate at a Welsh prison after he slid her his number on a piece of paper. Recordings were made of her talking to the inmate on the phone after he moved prisons.

Ruth Shmylo, 26, of Pontypridd, allegedly began an “inappropriate relationship” with the inmate, while she was working as a prisoner officer and he was a prisoner at HMP Parc in Bridgend. It is said she failed to report his advances and actively engaged in their relationship, which involved phone sex.

A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Shmylo and the inmate were alleged to have been in a relationship between December 1, 2020, and April 17, 2021. She began working at the prison in October 2020 but did not pass her probationary period and was released from her employment in April 2021.

The inmate was moved to HMP Manchester in May 2021, and conversations between him and Shmylo were recorded by the prison authorities. During the calls, the inmate asked the defendant to tell him she loved him, which she refused to do, and told her he “missed her face”.

After the calls were brought to the attention of the police, Shmylo was arrested on July 20, 2021. She made a number of admissions in her interview with police. In his opening, prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said: “The prosecution case is that she, Ms Shmylo, did not make any real effort to prevent or bring to an end or stop that relationship with that inmate while in Parc.

“She on more than one occasion tried to bring their relationship to an end, however the very fact she tried to bring that relationship to an end is of course evidence she was in an inappropriate relationship with that inmate at the important time.”

Shmylo told officers he slid her a piece of