“Immature” prison officer jailed after secret romance with murderer and passing him details of rival inmate
Ellis Eyles was 21 and working at HMP Deerbolt when she began a relationship with Mitchell Ingham. She has now been jailed for eight months
An "immature" female prison officer who got into a behind-bars relationship with a convicted murderer has been jailed for eight months.
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Ellis Eyles was 21 and working at HMP Deerbolt when she helped Mitchell Ingham, who stabbed a man to death in 2015, by telling him the whereabouts of another rival he wanted to harm.
Their romance was discovered after officers conducted a routine cell search and found an illicit iPhone at the prison near Barnard Castle, County Durham.
Investigations found that Ingham and Eyles contacted each other with messages and video calls.
Ingham asked about the whereabouts of another prisoner, saying he "will get him done in", Durham Crown Court heard.
Antonia Adie, prosecuting, said phone analysis revealed that the pair had been in contact in June and July 2023, exchanging information such as phone numbers and addresses.
In one message, Eyles told the convicted killer "Miss you xxx".
And on another occasion, Ingham messaged her, saying: "Phone me babe x".
One Facetime call lasted 37 minutes, the court heard.
In response to the text asking about the location of the other inmate Ingham wanted to harm, Eyles replied that he was in a segregation unit, the prosecution said.
Judge Richard Bennett jailed her for eight months after she admitted a single count of misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing.
He said the offending was so serious that the jail term could not be suspended.
Judge Bennett said: "It's clear you were in some kind of romantic relationship with this prisoner."
That impeded her colleagues' ability to work and undermined public confidence in the Prison Service, the judge said.
Judge Bennett said Eyles had helped Ingham, stating: "You gave him information about another prisoner in the knowledge he was seeking to do him harm."
Robert Mochrie, defending, said Eyles was "immature" when she started at the prison, and had only completed six weeks of training.
Half a day of that covered anti-corruption training, he said.
"What you have here is a person of hitherto good character who falls into serious error by virtue of manipulation of the criminal mind," he said.
"That is what happened here to her eternal regret."
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Mr Mochrie said Eyles, now 24 and from Darlington, had an "incredible work ethic" and was employed by a bank after she left the Prison Service.
There, he said, she saved a customer who was victim to a romantic scam from suffering more financial losses.
Ingham, now 25, was sentenced to nine months at a previous hearing for offences related to possessing and using a phone in jail.
He was detained at Her Majesty's pleasure for the 2015 murder of Dominic Doyle in a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester, and will serve a minimum term of 14 years, it was previously reported.