Prison officer fined for using fake details to send inmate lover money

Tuesday 11 January 2022

A 45-year-old former prison officer has been fined £2,000 after using fake details to secretly send hundreds of pounds to an inmate she was in a relationship with.

Kirsten-Louise Park sent £400 to the prisoner between June and July last year, using the HMP La Moye's payment system, which it later emerged had a fault in it.

In a hearing this morning, the Magistrate's Court heard how she had sent the money using a pseudonym on the electronic system which allows members of the public registered as visitors to make payments to prisoners.

Appearing for the prosecution, Centenier Amanda Wright noted that there had been a fault in the system that the prison "was not aware of at the time" allowing non-registered members of the public to make payments - something she said has now been rectified.

Pictured: Park was sentenced in the Magistrate's Court this morning.

She said there was no evidence Park knew of this fault, "but clearly after the first payment was made it worked for her."

She made 12 payments between 7 June and 28 July 2021, using a different telephone number for each.

After her bank was contacted by the prison, they confirmed on 6 August that the payments were coming from Park's account.

Park was called in for a meeting the following day, where she was asked if the pseudonym she had used meant anything to her - she then "started crying and said she created that name."

On 9 August, she resigned from her position with immediate effect.

In a voluntary interview with the police, she said she'd used her debit card for the transactions and created a false account on the system to do so.

Pictured: Park used false details to send around £400 to her prisoner partner.

She said she knew the recipient through her work at the prison, explaining she "had feelings for the prisoner and wanted to put money into his account."

She confirmed that she knew sending money to him was an offence at the time of making the transactions.

Defending Park, Advocate John Borg said she was "fully remorseful" for her actions, and that "she wholeheartedly regrets that she didn't wait until she resigned from her post at the prison", when it would have been legal to register to send funds as a member of the public.

Advocate Borg said she had done it as she knew the recipient only received funds from his mother, and had wanted to "take the strain off" her.

He added that she was still in a relationship with the prisoner, and continues to make payments to him.

Park's legal representative also argued her actions were at the lower end of 'conveyance' offences, compared to weapons and drugs. 

Summing up, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said: "Your reasons for doing what you did are personal, but, as I say, you were aware of the law and you chose to breach it using a false name and indeed a number of false contact numbers."

He later added: "The fact you have lost your job and suffered a financial consequence I'm afraid is part of the higher standard that is expected of a prison officer and, again, it's something you are aware of."

He fined her £2,000, to be paid in monthly £200 instalments.