A court has heard a warrant on a Gold Coast prison guard's home alerted authorities to her ongoing relationship with a prisoner.
Nicole Lisa Georgiou, 44, was employed by Queensland Corrective Services at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional precinct in July 2022 when police raided her Varsity Lakes home and found 195 orange strips of dextroamphetamine, known as speed.
She appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning, charged with having an intimate relationship with a prisoner and possession of dangerous drugs.
Prosecutor Tim Wise told the court officers seized her phone as part of the raid and found evidence of her relationship with an inmate at the Woodford Correctional Centre.
Further investigations showed Georgiou had visited the Sunshine Coast facility 20 times, and that two of these occasions in June last year constituted sexualised offending.
"They embraced each other tightly while standing and during the embrace [the inmate] proceeds to squeeze the defendant's left buttock," Mr Wise said.
The prosecution said the first embrace lasted 22 seconds, and the second 10 seconds.
Mr Wise said there was also a review of prison phone systems, which showed evidence of explicit conversations between the pair.
The court heard Georgiou had also transferred money into the prisoner's account, using her full name.
Phone records revealed relationship
Investigations into the relationship began after her home was raided, according to the prosecution.
"What actually occurred was, on the 4th of July 2022, police conducted a raid operation in relation to potential drug supply to correctional centres and the defendant was a person of interest," Mr Wise said.
"It's the case that when the police are interrogating her phone or investigating the offending, it draws their attention that she had been maintaining some form of relationship with a prisoner in a separate prison to where she currently works [at the time]."
In sentencing, Magistrate Michael Quinn acknowledged the significance of the crime, but accepted that it was on the minor end of offending.
"You [visited] a prisoner who was allowed no contact whatsoever with you or any other individual of that nature," the magistrate said.
"It has to be regarded as the minor type of intimate contact, intimate relationships, however the problem for you is that it was prohibited, and it was prohibited for a very good reason — part of that is to maintain security and control in the prison environment, of which there is significant public interest in ensuring that there are discipline and very strong rules, if there is to be law and order."
Defence lawyers said Georgiou had suffered as a result of the offending, losing her employment as a prison officer as well as public embarrassment.
"You have lost your employment, you have no doubt been deeply embarrassed in the community," Mr Wise said.
"You will have difficulty securing employment into the future."
Georgiou pleaded guilty to both offences and was fined $1000, with no convictions recorded.
