Rebecca Pinckard, 46, embarked on a fling with a prisoner
A prison officer has admitted having a secret relationship with an inmate and is facing jail time after allegedly performing a sex act on him. Rebecca Pinckard, 46, had a fling with the prisoner at HMP Highpoint in Stradishall, Suffolk, between April and July 2024.
She was arrested and faced a charge that she “wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted herself” in a way which amounted to “an abuse of the public’s trust”.
The charge states that she did so “by engaging in a relationship” with a prisoner she was responsible for, sending a card to him and “performing oral sex on that prisoner while working as a prison officer”. She pleaded guilty to the offence at Cambridge Crown Court on November 19 and was told she would be sentenced in January, the Mirror reports.
During a previous hearing, Pinckard’s solicitor, Andrew Cookson, said there were “factual disputes” in the case against her, although he did not reveal what they were. Her case was linked with a prisoner called Erion Nakdi, 42, who is charged with possessing a mobile phone in Highpoint prison between July 2 and July 6 last year.
Nakdi appeared on a video link from Category D HMP Ford prison near Arundel, West Sussex, where he was being held, and pleaded guilty to the charge. It was not disclosed in court whether or not he was the prisoner who had allegedly been in a relationship with Pinckard.
The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) was made aware of the offence on July 8 last year. At the time, the ERSOU – made up of staff from seven police forces in the East of England – described the then alleged relationship as “inappropriate”.
Det Insp Puneet Netar, from ERSOU’s regional organised crime unit, told the BBC : “Rebecca Pinckard clearly abused her position as a prison officer and made a conscious decision to enter into a relationship with an inmate. Public trust in the justice system depends on integrity, and our team works closely with the Prison Service to ensure that, where misconduct or corruption is occurring, those responsible are fully investigated. We will continue to work alongside partner agencies to target those who abuse their position, so that they are held accountable.”
Pinckard is the latest in a long line of officers to strike up illicit prison trysts with inmates. This week Alicia Novas, 19, admitted having sex with a violent robber behind bars and smuggling in cannabis for him. She had a four-month fling with 30-year-old Declan Winkless, who was serving an 11-year sentence for aggravated burglary.
And last month Isabelle Dale, 23, was found guilty of having a four-minute sex session with an inmate in a jail prayer room and enjoying a fling with a second prisoner. She had sex with convicted robber Shahid Sharif at HMP Coldingley in Surrey as two prisoners kept watch outside.
