A prison officer caught kissing a drug dealer inmate who she ‘picked’ above all others has been spared jail.
Disturbing bodyworn camera footage shows Tracy Boateng, 27, lean in multiple times as she makes the inappropriate contact with Vincent Ojo at HMP Pentonville.
At one point, the 34-year-old, who has been on the prison wing since 2020, says ‘so sexy’ as he makes his way over to Boateng.
On another occasion the prison officer clutches a Flake bar in her hand while Ojo towers over her and they share a lengthy smooch.
Boateng had admitted misconduct in a public office through engaging in an inappropriate relationship with Ojo between February 25 and April 19 last year.
At Snaresbrook Crown Court today, the senior prison officer was handed a 12 month sentence, suspended for 24 months.
Evidence against Boateng, who is from Dagenham, included the bodyworn camera footage of the pair kissing and hugging, the court heard.
Sentencing, Judge Caroline English told her the ‘exceptional’ feature of the case was her three-month-old daughter and that Boateng had avoided prison because of the impact it could have on the young girl.
Messages found on Boateng’s mobile phone after she was arrested revealed she had discussed the relationship with another prison officer who had replied: ‘This guy really believes you are his fairytale ending.’
The couple were also filmed taking a selfie together during which Boateng made a V sign and asked Ojo to ‘say cheese’, prosecutor Laura Kenyon said.
None of the footage was played at the sentencing but in one of the clips since released by police, Boateng asks a wide-eyed and gaping-mouthed Ojo to ‘shut the door’ as she informs she had ‘picked’ him over another inmate.
Ojo also accompanied Boateng to an office in the prison ‘multiple times’ where she had appeared to ‘reveal details’ of organisational information and permitted him to look at her computer screen, the prosecutor explained.
Ms Kenyon told the court that Ojo, 34, is serving a sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply, and had been on the prison wing since 2020.
Of Boateng’s relationship with Ojo, the prosecutor added: ‘Her behaviour became known to other prisoners which had the potential to disrupt discipline in the prison.’
The court heard that the prison officer had found a phone in Ojo’s cell in November 2023, after which he became threatening towards her, called her by her first name and referenced her home address.
She complained about his behaviour and ‘nothing was done’, said Ioana Nedelcu, defending.
In December 2023, Boateng began applying for jobs outside the Prison Service but was unsuccessful, she added.
It was after this that her relationship with Ojo ‘escalated’, the court heard.
Boateng originally joined the Prison Service in 2020 through a graduate scheme immediately after she left university, and passed an exam on ‘anti-corruption’, the prosecutor said.
She was therefore aware she could ‘avoid corruption by being friendly but not friends’ with inmates, Ms Kenyon added.
The prison officer missed a previous court hearing because she was giving birth, Ms Nedelcu said.
During mitigation, Ms Nedelcu said Boateng’s daughter, of whom Ojo is not the father, is three months old and is still breastfeeding.
Boateng is ‘remorseful’ and is now a single mother after her relationship with her daughter’s father broke down when he found out about her interactions with Ojo, the barrister added.
‘She understands her actions were wrong and that she makes no excuses for it,’ Ms Nedelcu added.
Addressing the defendant, Judge English said: ‘This offence is so serious that nothing other than a custodial sentence can be justified.’
‘You wholly breached and abused your position by engaging in a highly inappropriate relationship with a prisoner in your charge,’ she added.
Judge English continued: ‘There is however, an exceptional feature in this case, that is your child.
‘One thing is for certain, your child is a total innocent and the impact on such a young baby would be significant.’
She added that ‘for that reason and that reason alone’, she was ‘persuaded to suspend the sentence’.
The judge said it was clear Boateng’s life had been ‘turned on its head’ and that she had gone from ‘successful postgraduate’ to an unemployed, ‘financially challenged’ single mother.
Boateng, wearing a white shirt and purple trousers, did not visibly react as her sentence was passed.
Pentonville is a category B men’s prison in Islington, north London.
Earlier this year, former HMP Wandsworth prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, was jailed for 15 months after having sex with an inmate in a cell.
Footage was widely shared on social media.
