Female prison guard suspended over ‘inappropriate relationship’ with inmate

A female guard has been suspended from a scandal-hit prison after she was accused of having an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with an inmate.

Katerina Tatus, an officer at HMP Feltham in west London, was ‘marched to the gates by security’ over claims she was ‘having an affair and being too close to a prisoner’, one source told The Sun.

Police have launched an investigation into the allegations, which come amid growing concerns over intimate relationships between prison guard and inmates.

Earlier this year, Linda De Sousa Abreu, a prison officer at HMP Wandsworth in south London, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after she was filmed having sex with an inmate in his cell.

Footage of Abreu and prisoner Linton Weirich’s affair went viral on social media last summer.

Tatus, who is believed to have worked for the prison service for around three years, was suspended after a staff member filed an intelligence report, according to The Sun.

‘She has been accused of having an affair and being too close to a prisoner,’ a source told the newspaper.

‘It is unclear if it was a Feltham inmate or if something happened with someone at another jail.

‘It was even suggested a mobile number of hers had been used by a prisoner.’

The source said that Tatus’s suspension ‘has sent shockwaves around the jail’, as she was a ‘pretty girl’ who was ‘popular with staff and inmates.

‘If she has done what she is accused of, though, she has ruined her career,’ the source added.

‘Bosses are really worried about misconduct and corruption, especially after recent cases, so are doing their best to clamp down on it.

‘But if Katerina has been misbehaving, she is not the only one in Feltham.

‘There have been other claims of affairs and lots of find of material like phones and vapes which they fear have been smuggle in by staff.

‘Another officer is being investigated over that, but that investigation has not concluded.’

Responding to the allegations, Tatus reportedly said: ‘I didn’t do anything, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

The Ministry of Justice and HMP Feltham have been approached for a comment.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘It would be inappropriate to comment on a live Police investigation.’

Tatus posted pictures of herself posing in swimwear and partying with friends on her now-deactivated Facebook page.

Under one snap, a follower wrote: ‘Prettiest one in Feltham.’

HMP Feltham operates as a prison for inmates aged 18 to 30 and a separate institution for under-18s.

Feltham Young Offenders Institution – which houses children aged 15 to 18 – sparked concern after an investigation found there were six times more violence reported at the west London site than at one of the most dangerous adult prisons in the UK.

Earlier this month, prison officer Katie Evans, 26, waived to her family as she was sentenced to 21 months in jail over her sexual relationship with burglar Daniel Brownley at Doncaster Prison.

The mother-of-one, who worked at the prison from the age of 21, shared 140 phone calls with Brownley, moved money around in bank accounts for him and told him information the prison had on him.

She boasted to a former prison officer that she had performed oral sex on him and referred to herself as his ‘queen’.

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