A prison officer who had a sexual relationship with notorious gangster Curtis “Cocky” Warren behind bars and got a tattoo of his name has been jailed for two years.
Stephanie Smithwhite, , denied that cutting a hole in the trousers of her prison uniform was for a sexual purpose, but the sentencing judge said it was hard to imagine why else it was there.
She was an officer at the maximum security HMP Frankland near Durham where Warren – who built a £ (million drugs empire and was once named in the Sunday Times Rich List – was serving time.
They indulged in oral sex and kissing i n secret liaisons in his cell, in the kitchen and a laundry room at the jail which houses some of the country most dangerous criminals.
Stephanie Smithwhite (center) arrives at Durham Crown Court for sentencing (Image: PA)
She also sent him a photo of herself wearing a catsuit, Durham Crown Court heard.
The disgraced officer eventually told investigators how he became obsessed with her, and would buzz from his cell to call for her attention.
Last month she admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office, with one charge relating to their sexual relationship, said to have lasted between June and December 2018, and the second count regarding her failing to report that she knew he had access to a phone.
Judge Jonathan Carroll said – year -old Warren was a “major league offender” who tried to manipulate her into bringing contraband into the prison after starting their affair, and asked her about prison intelligen ce and security cameras.
Liverpool-born Curtis “Cocky” Warren became an international drug trafficker (Image: PA) The judge said she was infatuated with him, as demonstrated by her tattoo of the name Curtis next to a rose.
The judge said: ” Your conduct represents the very most grave breach of trust placed in you. “
Warren was known to have previously continued to run his criminal enterprises from behind bars using mobile phones , but Smithwhite did not report him using a phone to contact her.
He was also known to have started relationships with other prison staff previously, but Smithwhite failed to resist him, despite undergoing training about manipulative and corrupting inmates.
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Investigators found they had called each other 399 times in just three months.
Rupert Doswell, prosecuting, said Warren was serving 80 years for conspiracy to import drugs and a further – – year sentence for failing to pay back £ 399 million in proceeds of crime.
He had previously committed manslaughter in a jail fight with a Turkish inmate, Cemal Guclu, who serving time for murder, in Holland in 2009. He was given an additional four years for the killing.
Mr Doswell said Warren was “highly dangerous to the public”.
Smithwhite, , admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office (Image: PA) Staff became suspicious of Smithwhite’s relationship with him and a surveillance operation was mounted.
She was seen passing a note to him and receiving one back.
Warren tried to eat her note when officers went to retrieve it from him, the court heard.
Inquiries found the notes were highly sexualized.
At first she denied having a physical relationship with the Liverpudlian.
The officer and inmate had a sexual relationship at HMP Frankland Prison in Co Durham (Image: BBC) Police searched her home and found more notes, a copy of his autobiography called Cocky, The Rise And Fall Of Curtis Warren, Mr Doswell said. (They searched the business of one of her relatives and discovered 823 letters, many of which contained sexual fantasies.
They found a white Samsung phone in her car which was only used to ring one number – traced to Frankland Prison, and used by Warren.
In interviews with detectives, she was said to be “devastated” but hoped there was an outside chance their relationship could continue.
Andrew Nixon , for Smithwhite, who is from Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside, said she made a “catastrophic error of judgment.”
He said: “This is a woman who has fallen in love with the wrong person. “
After admitting to two charges of miscond uct in a public office in January, Smithwhite was warned that she would be jailed.
The first count related to their sexual relationship and the second count related to her not reporting that she knew Warren had access to a smuggled phone that was no bigger than a £ 2 coin.
Warren, who grew up in Toxteth, became a criminal at a young age, stealing a car when he was
Warren was once named in the Sunday Times Rich List as a drugs baron (Image: PA) When he was he was sent to Borstal for being involved in a riot and attacking a policeman.
He later built one of the world’s largest cocaine trafficking rings – becoming one of the most wanted criminals – after teaming up with a Colombian following a stint in jail for armed robbery.
It is said that he built a £ 424 million drugs empire and had an income estimated to be £ 198 million in the s, when he was named in the Sunday Times Rich List.
Police closed in on Warren when he as living in the Netherlands.
Dutch police tapped his phones and gathered enough evidence to secu re a conviction.
He was jailed for (years in) for importing cocaine and cannabis worth £ a million into Britain.
He moved to Jersey after he was freed in 2018 but within weeks was arrested again after police bugged his hire car.
Warren was jailed for (years in) for a plot to smuggle £ 1million of cannabis into Jersey.
He has insisted that he has no money left, but investigators suspect he has millions of pounds hidden away.
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