Prison officer jailed after having baby after year-long affair with captive robber

A female prison officer has been jailed after having a baby after a secret years-long affair with a jailed robber.

Corinne Redhead, 29, initially denied wrongdoing until police found the lag Robert O’Connor, who was named as the father on the tot’s birth certificate.

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Judge Michael Simon jailed her for 25 months, telling her, “You have completely violated your professional duty.”

Prison warden Redhead fell in love with O’Connor – who was in prison for ten years – while he was working at HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, Herts.

She was six months pregnant when officers, on a tip, searched his cell in January 2019 and found a cell phone in the U-bend of his toilet.

It contained messages between the two, including 100 exchanged in just 72 hours, containing racy sex texts.

O’Connor had saved Redhead’s number under “My Baby”.

Redhead, from Stevenage, Herts, was arrested and had O’Connor’s son three months later.

She was charged with misconduct last year and told The Sun she was innocent – and changed her story after police found the birth certificate.

Defending Redhead, Drea Becker told Luton Crown Court: “She has good character and made a very terrible mistake.

“Over a period of months, she fell in love with a man named Robert O’Connor.

“She makes it clear that there is no excuse. It expresses remorse and shame.”

Judge Michael Simon told her she was lucky the phone had not been used to facilitate other crimes.

He said of her crime: “The guilt is high in my opinion.

“This was not a temporary error, but was carried out over a period of time.”

He added, “They could and should have resigned, reported Mr. O’Connor and pulled out of the relationship.”