Former prison cashier jailed for affair with inmate at North Sea Camp

A former prison cashier was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office for having a sexual relationship with a prisoner at HMP North Sea Camp in Freiston, Lincolnshire.

Yolanda Briggs, 52, of Boston, Lincolnshire, had worked in the prison service for 24 years, including more than two years in the prison’s business hub as a cashier. The relationship with Allan Collins, then 48, took place on several occasions in 2024, including meetings during his day releases from the open prison and a visit to her home for intimate meetings. The court heard the two had an ongoing affair that Briggs described as making her feel “wanted and alive.” Briggs was observed meeting and speaking with Collins in the staff mess, and the pair reportedly exchanged money to support their relationship.

The affair came to light after Collins boasted about it to fellow inmates, prompting an anonymous message to the Board of Governors that exposed the relationship. An investigation was launched in July 2024. Briggs resigned the day the alleged misconduct was confronted by the prison’s deputy governor, on September 19, 2024, and later gave a full confession to police. Prosecutors said she immediately admitted to the relationship and resigned when confronted. Briggs’s defence noted she had lost her job, income and friends as a result of the exposure. She appeared in court wearing a white blouse, round-rimmed glasses and dark trousers, tearful and largely silent, only answering to confirm her name and enter a guilty plea.

The inmate, Allan Collins, remains behind bars at the men’s Category D open prison, where former author and politician Jeffrey Archer served part of his sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice. Collins is serving six years with a two-year extension, totaling eight years, for false imprisonment of a male victim and theft from an employee. He has prior convictions dating to 2014 for assault causing actual bodily harm, battery and robbery, and is due for a Parole Board hearing in December.

Briggs’s counsel, Claire Holmes, told the court that her client had lost her good character, income and friends since the affair became public. Holmes contended that Briggs acted without manipulation and that there was genuine affection between the two and that the couple intended to stay together after release. She emphasized Briggs’s health issue, noting that Briggs suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome and had an operation scheduled the following week. Holmes stressed that the sexual relationship was not in exchange for money or other benefits, and that Briggs had not provided anything to the prisoner in return for the affair.

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight acknowledged Briggs’s remorse but said there was no excuse for abusing a position of trust. She warned that staff at North Sea Camp bear a significant responsibility to prepare prisoners for release and to uphold the public’s trust in the prison system. The judge stated that Briggs’s actions undermined the regime and the prison’s role in helping inmates transition to life outside. Briggs was sentenced to eight months’ immediate imprisonment and was told she would serve up to half the sentence before being released on licence.

North Sea Camp, a Category D open prison, houses inmates deemed suitable for open conditions and work release. The case underscores ongoing concerns about relationships between prison staff and inmates and the impact such conduct can have on institutional integrity and public confidence in the system.