Welsh prison officer spared jail after inappropriate relationship with inmate on home release

A female prison officer in South Wales has avoided jail after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a convicted drug dealer who was on home release. Megan Breen, 23, from Newport, began the fling while working at HMP Usk, a category C jail, and at nearby HMP Prescoed, an open prison, and travelled about 175 miles to meet the inmate when he was on home leave. The affair culminated in sex in a hotel room after Breen and the prisoner travelled to Liverpool for a birthday trip, during which she also met his family. Breen exchanged hundreds of messages with the inmate while he was behind bars, according to court documents.

The romance began while the prisoner was at Prescoed, where Breen worked as part of the operational support staff, and later continued as he moved to a category D status at the same site. She initially denied involvement but later admitted to an illicit relationship behind bars between February and May 2022. Prosecutor Thomas Stanway said Breen confessed the fling to a colleague while viewing a photo of a male prisoner on a computer screen, noting that the man was a prisoner at Prescoed. He said Breen described a birthday trip to Liverpool with two other colleagues and said she slept with the man during that trip, meeting his family and revealing that others at the prison knew of the relationship.

During the interview, Breen reportedly told the colleague that there could be consequences, but she believed “no one is going to say anything.” A subsequent search of the inmate’s cell uncovered a handwritten note bearing Breen’s mobile number and Snapchat handle. Number plate recognition data later showed a series of trips to Liverpool after the inmate was released on licence to work at a poultry farm and equipped with a mobile phone. Prison investigators also found that Breen’s prison-issued device recorded about 558 messages between her and the inmate, corroborating that the two had arranged to meet on the Liverpool trip and that their relationship was intimate.

The inmate, who was nearing the end of his sentence for supplying Class A drugs, had been released on licence to work at the poultry farm, and his ability to communicate via a mobile device facilitated the relationship. The messages described expressions of affection, including terms of endearment and heart emojis, and painted a picture of a close personal relationship. The pair reportedly argued after Breen accessed the inmate’s phone and discovered he had been Facetiming other women, which reportedly caused a rift and led to a period of no contact.

Breen appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, with Cardiff Crown Court serving as the sentencing venue. Scott Bowen, Breen’s solicitor, noted that Breen was a single mother with a young child and was expecting another, having learned she was pregnant the day before sentencing. He argued that Breen was young at the time of the offences and had been “buried her head in the sand” about potential punishment. The judge, Recorder of Cardiff Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, acknowledged that Breen knew her actions were wrong and understood the consequences but said that due to the “exceptional circumstances” surrounding Breen’s children and their dependence on her, an immediate custodial sentence would cause significant harm to others.

As a result, Breen received a 10-month suspended sentence, a 15-day rehabilitation requirement, and an order to pay £500 in costs, payable at £50 per month. She had previously denied the affair in court in January, but her barrister asked for the charge to be put again, and she subsequently admitted to misconduct in a public office. A second allegation of illegally accessing the inmate’s computer was not pursued, according to Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.

The case comes amid broader scrutiny of prison staff conduct. The Ministry of Justice has reported that 19 prison staff were charged with misconduct in public office between 2023 and 2024, the highest number of lock-up liaisons in a decade, underscoring ongoing concerns about integrity within the system.