Prison cashier jailed eight months over affair with inmate who boasted about fling

A former prison cashier sobbed in court Friday as she was jailed for eight months for misconduct in a public office after having a sexual relationship with an inmate who boasted about their fling before a fellow convict reported it.

Yolanda Briggs, 52, from Boston, Lincolnshire, had worked in the prison service for 24 years and most recently served as a cashier in the business hub at HMP North Sea Camp, an open-category prison in Freiston. The affair with Allan Collins, 48, occurred in 2024 in the staff mess and during the inmate’s day releases, and Briggs also met him at her home for private meetings.

The relationship came to light after Collins boasted to fellow inmates about it. An anonymous message to the Board of Governors exposed the affair, and Briggs admitted the conduct on September 19 last year when confronted by the deputy governor. She later repeated the full confession to police and resigned from her post.

Collins, who remains behind bars at North Sea Camp, is serving six years with a two-year extension, totalling eight years, for false imprisonment of a male victim and theft from an employee. He has prior convictions in 2014 for assault causing actual bodily harm, battery and robbery, and a Parole Board hearing is scheduled for December.

Briggs’ defense told the court that she had lost her job, income and friends since the affair became public. The lawyer urged the judge to consider a suspended sentence, noting that Briggs had 24 years of service, no previous convictions, and that the relationship was not conducted for financial gain. The prosecutor said there was no evidence she had been manipulated. The judge, Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight, told Briggs there was no excuse for the behaviour, and that it undermined the prison regime and public trust. She said the boundaries between staff and inmates must be observed in North Sea Camp, and Briggs faced eight months’ immediate imprisonment, with the possibility of release on licence after serving half the sentence.

Briggs, who wore large round-rimmed glasses and a white blouse with a ruffled front, spoke only to confirm her name and enter her guilty plea during the 45-minute hearing. She appeared tearful in the glass-backed dock, with a security guard offering her tissues and cups of water. She suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome and had an operation scheduled for next week.

The case underscores the strict boundaries expected of staff in custodial settings and the consequences when trust is breached, even in a relatively relaxed open environment.

North Sea Camp, in Freiston, has housed inmates who span a broad spectrum, including high-profile cases and figures associated with the open-prison model. Collins is serving his sentence at the facility, a reminder of the complex dynamics that can unfold inside such establishments and the ongoing scrutiny of safeguarding and professional conduct in the prison service.