Prison officer Michaela Crawford sent flirty texts to prisoner Carl Catleugh about first dates, heels, perfume and plans for life after his release from HMP Deerbolt
A prison officer has been spared jail after exchanging flirtatious messages with an inmate.
Michaela Crawford sent texts to prisoner Carl Catleugh about first dates, heels, perfume and plans for life after his release. The relationship came to light after an iPhone and charger, wrapped in a sock, were found during a search of his cell.
Durham Crown Court heard a string of illicit Snapchat and text messages between the pair were discovered on the device. In one, Catleugh wrote: “I obviously really like you..I do think we could make it work.” Crawford replied saying she wanted “to wear those heels and wear that perfume on the first date.”
Catleugh also sent pictures from his cell at HMP Deerbolt, County Durham, where he was serving a 42-month sentence for possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
Catleugh, now 32, admitted possessing a prohibited item in a prison and was handed an eight-month sentence suspended for 18 months, plus 120 hours of unpaid work. Crawford, 34, admitted a charge of misconduct in public office, between August 20 and 22, 2024.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Chris Baker, defending, conceded the case “clearly crosses the custody threshold by some distance”. But he said Crawford is of previous good character, made an early guilty plea, and described it as a breach of trust over “a relatively short period”.
He added: “She has left the Prison Service and is assessed in the probation report as posing a low risk of re-offending. It’s clear from the references uploaded that she’s a person who commands a great deal of respect in the community. She’s industrious and hard-working.” Baker said she had suffered with depression and anxiety, but they have alleviated since the left the prison service.
Judge Mark McKone told Crawford that as a prison officer, “a great deal of trust was placed in you,” adding: “Yet, you allowed a prisoner to keep and use a phone on which you discussed a first date, and in some messages you referred to you risking losing your job and going to jail. You knew how dangerous it was to allow a prisoner to have a phone.”
McKone added there was no evidence of the defendant smuggling the phone in for the inmate, otherwise she would definitely be going straight to prison. He continued: “It’s very sad you put your own romantic interest in a criminal above doing your job. You won’t work as a prison officer again. But, I accept you are hard-working and a good mother.”
Passing a 12-month suspended sentence, Mckone said Crawford was capable of rehabilitation and unlikely to re-offend. He said she has her own business and lives alone with a young son, who has “his own issues”. Crawford must perform 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £150 by September 1.
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