Jessica McCleary, 29, admitted misconduct in public office between October 25 and November 4 last year by entering into an “inappropriate” relationship with inmate Levi Weekes at Berwyn jail, Wrexham
A female prison guard has been spared jail despite writing love letters with an inmate and professing their “undying love” for each other.
Jessica McCleary, 29, of Pleasant View, Froncysyllte, Llangollen, didn’t have a sexual relationship behind bars with inmate Levi Weekes at Berwyn jail, Wrexham. However, Mold Crown Court heard she had a miscarriage and he ended the relationship which had turned sexual on his release from jail.
Referring to Weekes, Judge Rhys Rowlands remarked :”It’s exactly what you would expect from a manipulative individual.” McCleary admitted misconduct in public office between October 25 and November 4 last year by entering into an “inappropriate” relationship at Berwyn.
She brought a suitcase and another bag to court for her sentencing. But a clearly relieved McCleary, who has a law degree, received an eight months jail term, suspended for two years.
She must do a 20 days rehabilitation activity and a 12-month mental health requirement. “If you transgress again you will be going to prison,” the judge warned her.
Judge Rowlands said the “crucial feature” in sentencing her was that McCleary was the sole carer for her five-year-old child.
“As a prison officer you will have seen young children being taken into the prison establishment and how dreadfully depressing that is for all concerned,” Judge Rowlands told her.
If she had carried anything into jail for Weekes or entered into a physical sexual relationship behind bars, she wouldn’t have been spared custody.
“As of October last year you were still serving as a prison officer at Berwyn, a post you held for six years or so. That post carries with it great responsibility and both society and your colleagues would have expected you as a prison officer, as a public servant, to behave at all times appropriately,” the judge said. “In the event you fell far short of what was expected of you by entering into an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.”
Prosecutor Catherine Elvin said in October last year McCleary had been a prison officer at Berwyn, employed for six years.
But in September 2023 the defendant had been informed she was going to be sacked for “poor performance.” There were also suspicions about a relationship with Weekes and she was stopped bringing a USB stick into prison.
Miss Elvin said the guard accepted she had started to see Weekes more regularly in his cell and they had feelings for each other. “She admitted while serving her notice period relating to dismissal that relationship had progressed and since October 26 they had shared notes and love messages.”
The notes were found in Weekes’ cell and McCleary’s car and hotel room, where she was living at the time. The prison officer was found to have been in regular contact with Weekes on the prison messaging service. After her arrest, while not in work, there was further messaging.
“She stated she intended to maintain the relationship with Levi Weekes despite her dismissal and his subsequent transfer,” the lawyer added. Defence barrister John Wyn Williams said: ”This case was an exchange of fairly immature text messages expressing undying love for each other.” McCleary was remorseful.
Counsel said: ”She had been dismissed and the irony is Levi Weekes terminated their relationship following her disclosure that she had miscarried their child.” Mr Wyn Williams said she had a “difficult” childhood.
Judge Rowlands said McCleary had visited Weekes’ cell daily during five weeks. “You were putting your own interests first and let down your colleagues and forgot your responsibilities to your child,” he told her. “It was very wrong indeed because your behaviour served to undermine and risk safety and discipline in the prison.”
The judge said she had been diagnosed previously with PTSD and depression, and he accepted there was “a degree of naivety”. The jail holds 2,000 men, including inmates from North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham and members of organised crime gangs. But there have been a string of guard-inmate flings.
Anti-corruption training had been given to more than 500 workers in a bid to stop affairs. Previously 18 women staff had been sacked or resigned for getting too close to inmates – adding to a staff shortage.
In December 2022, a corrupt prison officer who fell in love with a prisoner wept as she was jailed for eight months. Jennifer Gavan, 27, of Llay, Wrexham, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office between April and July 2020 at Berwyn.
She was accused of entering into an inappropriate relationship with prisoner Alex Coxon, accepting £150 to bring a mobile phone into the jail and communicating with him via a phone held illegally in Berwyn.
In 2019 a guard who had a fling with a “dangerous” inmate was locked up for 12 months. Numerous phone calls, some sexually explicit, took place between criminology and psychology graduate Ayshea Gunn, 27, and Khuram Razaq, 29. He was an inmate at Berwyn serving 12 years for conspiracy to rob.
Mold crown court heard in Gunn’s bedroom were snaps of the pair kissing and hugging, some mobile phone pictures taken in his cell. The same year, prison officer Emily Watson, 26, was jailed after performing a sex act on an inmate in his cell on Christmas Day.
