A prison tutor who sent “explicit” love letters to an inmate and was found “flustered” alone with him in a locked room has been jailed for eight months.
Handwritten letters from Melissa Murphy, formerly Melissa O’Brien, 49, containing “explicit romantic and sexual content” were found in a HMP Chelmsford prisoner’s cell, and a photo of the inmate was found at her home, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
In a disciplinary interview, she admitted writing love letters and locking herself in a workshop with the inmate, but denied any physical relationship.
She admitted having an inappropriate relationship with the inmate and was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.
On 8 December 2023, Murphy requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop despite there being no scheduled class that day, Judge Jamie Sawyer said.
“This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room, appearing flustered when the door was opened,” he said.
Murphy began a role in 2020, providing vocational training to assist prisoners in gaining employment after release.
She was first arrested on 11 December 2023 and her role as a teacher was terminated.
Murphy was then charged on 12 February 2025. On 28 November, at a hearing in Chelmsford Crown Court, she pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in a public office.
On Friday at the same court, Judge Sawyer said: “Ms Murphy your offending is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.
“You held a position of trust within a prison and abused that trust by engaging in a romantic relationship with a prisoner, exposing yourself to corruption and undermining confidence in the prison system.”
The court heard a sim card was found in Murphy’s house and correspondence where there was encouragement from the inmate to provide the sim card to maintain private contact with him.
The judge said he could see no evidence that this occurred but remarked that the potential was obvious.
The prosecution did not suggest that a physical relationship had occurred and Murphy also denied physical intimacy.
Jailing Murphy for eight months, describing the offending as an “isolated lapse”, the judge said: “The victim here, and in my judgment there is a victim, is the public.
“Confidence in the prison system is essential. And your actions have further eroded that confidence, particularly at HMP Chelmsford.”
The judge told Murphy she would serve up to 40 per cent of the eight-month sentence in custody.
In a separate case on Friday, a former prison officer was jailed after being caught on her own body-worn video camera performing a sex act on an inmate.
Rebecca Pinckard, 46, had the “intimate encounter” with serving prisoner Erion Nakdi, 42, in a store cupboard at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk, Cambridge Crown Court was told.
The mother, from Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire, had previously sent a Moonpig card to the Albanian national who is serving a 16-year sentence for drugs offences.
She admitted at an earlier hearing to misconduct in a public office and was jailed for 32 weeks.
Gavin Burrell, prosecuting, said Pinckard was captured performing a sex act on Nakdi in two video clips filmed five minutes apart on her own body-worn camera on 5 July 2024.
The clips were found by another officer who was reviewing body-worn camera footage for evidence.
Judge Anthony Cartin said Pinckard’s offending was “only discovered because of a clumsy mistake”, adding: “An officer gathering evidence found evidence from your camera.”
“Your camera had been activated during the intimate encounter,” he said.
Judge Cartin continued: “The offence wasn’t a one-off – it went on for a number of months and the card was sent.”
Jailing Pinckard, he said that her “conduct diminishes the public confidence in the criminal justice system”.
Prosecutor Mr Burrell said it was discovered that Pinckard had sent Nakdi a Moonpig card on 10 April 2024.
He said sexual videos of Nakdi in his prison cell were recovered from Pinckard’s mobile phone and “it’s accepted the videos were filmed in prison then sent via social media by messaging”.
The judge noted that Pinckard did not report it to authorities when she received the sexual videos.
Nakdi, who appeared in court by prison video link, admitted at an earlier hearing to the unauthorised possession of a mobile phone in prison between 2 July and 6 July 2024.
He was jailed for 10 months consecutive to his existing sentence, of 16 years and three months over a conspiracy to supply class A drugs, for which he was sentenced at Luton Crown Court in 2022.
Rory Keene, for Nakdi, described the unauthorised device as a “pool phone”.
Mr Keene said: “This is really a tragic case of an emotional attraction between two people.”
He described the Moonpig card as a “loving card”.
Juliet Donovan, representing Pinckard, said it was a “moment of madness” and said it was “not a relationship”.
She said Pinckard had been in a “19-year relationship – she had just left that relationship” and “her home life at the time… was particularly difficult”.
Ms Donovan said Pinckard “never gave (Nakdi) her mobile phone number so there’s no question of repeated text messages”.
She said Pinckard sent the Moonpig card as Nakdi “explained he had been having problems with his girlfriend” and Pinckard wanted “to try to cheer him up”.
The court heard Pinckard had been given a warning in October 2023 after being “overfamiliar” with prisoners.
Ms Donovan said that Pinckard’s “giving of cakes and sweets” was “naively and stupidly trying to make the lives of prisoners somewhat better”.
Pinckard wiped tears from her eyes at moments during Friday’s sentencing, and appeared tearful as she was led to the cells.
