Wakefield nurse jailed for HMP Moorland inmate relationship

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A prison nurse who smuggled a mobile phone into jail in order to exchange sexual text messages with an inmate has been jailed for 20 months.

Elizabeth Hutton gave Medi Abalimba the phone while he was serving a sentence for fraud at HMP Moorland, near Doncaster, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

She also gave him a pair of knickers and a "provocative" photo of herself.

The relationship came to light after colleagues became suspicious of 50-year-old Hutton's behaviour.

On one occasion she hung a "Do not disturb" sign outside a consultation room, the court was told.

Following that encounter, Abalimba was found to be in possession of a black Samsung mobile phone.

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During a subsequent search of his cell, a cardboard box containing the underwear and photograph was found under his bed.

When the police examined a phone previously seized from Abalimba they found "a series of increasingly intimate and sexual messages" sent between the prisoner and Hutton.

Hutton, of Kingsley Avenue, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct in a public office and conveying a prohibited article into prison.

Her barrister Ian Howard said his client had been "in a vulnerable position" and suffering from low self-esteem as a result of large debts she had accrued following her divorce in 2005.

He said Abalimba, who was jailed in 2014 for impersonating Chelsea footballer Gael Kakuta, was a "skilled confidence trickster".

"He used his charm on this vulnerable woman to persuade her to do what it was that he wanted," said Mr Howard.

Jailing Hutton, Judge Julian Goose said: "Your obligation was to provide a professional medical service for serving prisoners.

"The public was entitled to expect you would perform that duty.

"To form an inappropriate relationship with a serving prisoner was plainly a breach of that obligation."