A former female prison officer who engaged in a six-month sexual relationship with a convicted rapist while employed at HMP The Verne in Dorset has avoided prison. Cherri-Ann Austin-Saddington, 29, was handed a two-year suspended sentence after admitting to misconduct in public office. The court heard she repeatedly had sex with inmate Bradley Trengrove, including up to 40 encounters in prison workshops during her shifts and even on her days off. The relationship led to a pregnancy, which sadly ended in miscarriage.
++ World’s quickest rodent reaches a top speed of 37mph
Despite the serious breach of protocol, Judge Jonathan Fuller KC ruled that Austin-Saddington’s serious injuries, sustained in an unrelated fall, were grounds for leniency. The court was told that the mother-of-three is now wheelchair-bound. Austin-Saddington also attempted to inseminate herself using a syringe filled with Trengrove’s sperm during a visit to a different prison after he was transferred. During that visit, she was found carrying the syringe in her bra and wearing no underwear.
Prosecutors revealed that Austin-Saddington had smuggled a mobile phone into the prison for Trengrove and exchanged romantic messages, referring to him as her “husband to be” and describing him as her “reason for living”. Their relationship began just months after Trengrove was transferred to The Verne in January 2022, where he was serving a 13-year sentence for rape and sexual activity with a child. Messages and testimonies described how they met in quiet areas of the prison to avoid detection.
++ Trump’s tax cuts face scrutiny amid mounting US debt fears
In court, Austin-Saddington expressed remorse for her actions, with her barrister saying she was “ashamed and upset” and “no longer the same woman.” Trengrove, meanwhile, received an additional two years and three months to his sentence after admitting to encouraging her misconduct and possessing an unauthorised mobile device. The case has raised renewed concerns over staff conduct and security within UK prisons.
