Prison Officer sacked after friending prisoners on Facebook
There are several no-nos to avoid when you’re a prison officer. Letting the inmates out for a picnic is one. Swapping places with the prisoners and pretending you’re in some kind of Bizarro World is another. Befriending them on Facebook is another equally stupid sounding mistake, but one that a Leicestershire prison officer was sacked over.
An investigation into Nathan Singh was initiated when he was suspected of providing mobile phones and other such banned items to inmates. He was really caught bang to right when it was discovered that amongst his Facebook friends were 13 criminals, even though they didn’t find any evidence of his alleged smuggling. He was sacked for gross misconduct as a result.
Singh used a couple of contradictory defences during his hearing, namely that he knew many of the criminals from school and as football buddies, and that he often just accepted friend requests without even checking who there were, which is just the kind of thoroughness you would like from a prison officer. The latter of these claims looked a little suspicious when it emerged that Singh had been in phone contact with seven of the thirteen.
It’s unclear if he befriended them for any nefarious purpose or just to write on their walls and compare memes. Which is fair enough, because prison officers clearly should know “25 weird facts” about their charges.
Alan Martin
(via Leicester Mercury)
