TWO “in love” prison working mothers sent their straggler lovers pornographic messages on phones they smuggled into prison.
Amy Portwood, 41, and Adrienne Juniper began relationships with convicted burglars Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian.
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The mothers smuggled contraband into HMP Risley in Warrington, including phones and drugs.
They used these cellphones to send a series of “overtly sexual” messages and even tattooed the prisoners’ initials on themselves.
Portwood was jailed for 22 months after admitting transporting prohibited articles into a prison and possessing heroin, cocaine, marihuanacannabis resin and steroids with intent to supply.
Juniper was spared prison after pleading guilty to the same crimes at Liverpool Crown Court.
The pair were “regular visitors” to the category C prison, where they worked as carers for regular hired visitors.
Despite being assigned to care for a disabled prisoner, they became close to 33-year-old Phythian and 40-year-old McAndrew.
Between November 2021 and January 2022, Portwood made 1,134 calls with Phythian, as well as exchanging 294 texts, more than 1,000 WhatsApp messages.
Several photos exchanged between the pair have been deleted, but the messages were described as sexual.
Meanwhile, Juniper exchanged 1,598 raunchy messages with McAndrew, who in return sent her topless photos.
Their relationships were exposed when the women were seen on CCTV taking their disabled patient to the shower in a wheelchair with an “out of place” brace on his back.
The clothing was searched and found to contain five separate packages of illicit products.
These included tobacco, a mobile phone, two USB sticks, cannabis resin worth up to £2,880, herbal cannabis valued at £1,850, £600 of cocaine, crack cocaine worth £200 and £240 of heroin.
Police who searched Juniper’s home also found £3,530 in cash, as well as around £500 in Turkish lira.
A further £348 was seized from a drawer in Portwood’s bedroom.
Police also discovered that the pair had tattoos which apparently referenced her imprisoned lovers.
Portwood had a P on her forearm for Phythian, while Juniper had a D on her finger for Darren.
McAndrew and Phythian admitted transporting prohibited articles into a prison and possessing a prohibited item in a prison.
Each of them was sentenced to a further three years and nine months in prison.
The court was told that Phythian has a total of 18 previous convictions for 36 offences, while McAndrew has ten convictions for 22 offences.
His lawyer denied that he had “groomed” Juniper and insisted that the illicit relationship was real.
Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “In my opinion, Mr Phythian and Mr McAndrew took advantage of the opportunity and there was a degree of manipulation or persuasion. You, Portwood and Juniper, abused your position of trust as providers care provider providing care to prisoners.
“You two were extremely naive, to say the least. You knew perfectly well that these items could not be taken into prison.
“But you did it anyway, no doubt having allowed your passion for your co-defendants to overtake your decision-making. These items are valuable currency within the prison system and can be used as instruments of extortion or power.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
