'Weekend release' for female inmates in return for sex!

Two male prison officers at Downview Women's Prison in Sutton, Surrey, had sex with woman inmates in exchange for favours like weekend releases and alcohol, a court has heard

Russell Thorne and Simon Dykes have been accused of giving special treatment to female prisoners in exchange for sexual acts.

The court also heard that 41-year-old Thorne, an acting governor at the facility, even had a three-year relationship with one inmate, and allowed her to use his mirror, and have alcohol in return for repeated sexual favours, the Daily Mail reports.

He has been charged with two counts of misconduct in public office, involving having sex with inmates, one claimed to be between July 1, 2006 and February 25, 2010 and the other between May 21, 2008 and February 25, 2010.

Another senior prison officer, Dykes, faces six counts of the same offence, four involving having sexual intercourse, one of sexual touching, and one of masturbating outside a prisoner's cell.

The duo reportedly started with their illicit activities in July 2006, and by February last year, their habit became an 'increasingly open secret'.u00a0

Prosecutor Ian Acheson told a jury at Guildford Crown Court today: 'Russell Thorne was a principal officer and latterly an acting Governor, while 'Simon Dykes was a respected and experienced prison officer.'

"By the beginning of 2010 it was becoming an increasingly open secret that there was a culture of corruption in the prison and these two prison officers abused the trust invested in them and abused the relationship of warder to prisoner. They were offering preferential treatment to prisoners for sex," he added.

Around 350 female inmates are detained in Downview Women's Prison.