The Daily Telegraph

Woman, 30, charged after video emerges of sex in prison

- By Fiona Parker senior news reporter

A WOMAN has been charged after a video emerged which allegedly showed a prison officer having sex with an inmate in a jail cell.

Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, was charged on Saturday with misconduct in public office and will appear in court today. The arrest came after a video was shared widely on social media which allegedly showed a female prison officer engaging in sexual intercours­e with a prisoner at HMP Wandsworth.

A Met Police spokesman said: “A police investigat­ion was launched on June 28 after officers were made aware of a video filmed inside HMP Wandsworth. A woman was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

“Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, of Fulham, was charged with misconduct in public office. She will appear in custody at Uxbridge magistrate­s’ court [today].”

An HM Prison Service spokesman said: “Staff corruption is not tolerated and the former prison officer allegedly featured in this video has been reported to the police. It would be inappropri­ate to comment further.”

The incident is only the latest scandal to hit the south-west London prison, which came under scrutiny last year

‘Staff corruption is not tolerated and the former prison officer allegedly in this video was reported’

when terror suspect Daniel Khalife allegedly escaped from its grounds.

Mr Khalife is said to have strapped himself to the bottom of a delivery truck with a harness made from bedsheets in order to escape from the Category A prison.

A former British Army soldier, he was originally arrested in January on terror charges after allegedly plotting a fake bomb hoax at MOD Stafford. He is also accused of spying for an enemy state.

Mr Khalife, who will stand trial this year, denies one charge of escape, one of committing an act prejudicia­l to the state, one of eliciting informatio­n about members of the Armed Forces and another of perpetrati­ng a bomb hoax.

In May, Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, wrote to the Secretary of State for Justice to issue an “urgent notificati­on” for improvemen­t for HMP Wandsworth.

The notice followed an inspection of the prison, which found failings in security, severe overcrowdi­ng, vermin, drugs, violence and rising self-harm.

Seven prisoners had also taken their own lives in the institutio­n over the 12 months prior to the inspection.

 ?? ?? Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, from Fulham, in south-west London, has been charged with misconduct in public office
Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, from Fulham, in south-west London, has been charged with misconduct in public office

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