As prison officer Isabelle Dale is found guilty of flings with two serving inmates, former lag Tony Gooch has opened up about his own illicit prison relationship and why he has no regrets
As Isabelle Dale is found guilty of bedding one inmate in the jail prayer room and having a fling with another, a former criminal has opened up about his own illicit romance with a female prison officer while in the clink.
Two inmates were posted as lookouts as Dale, 23, romped with Shahid Sharif, 33, in the worship area at HMP Coldingley in Surrey. The prison officer was seen emerging alongside the convicted robber after four minutes, hastily readjusting her belt. Dale had Sharif’s nickname ‘Sneaks’ tatooed behind her neck, hung a framed picture of them together over her bed and called herself ‘Miss Sneaky.’
Dale bought her own £3,000 engagement ring while she wrote love letters to Sharif telling of her dreams of their life together on the outside. Some of those letters were laced with synthetic cannabis or ‘Spice.’
READ MORE: Prison officer ‘engaged in sex act in prayer room and had relations with second inmate’
She was having a sexual relationship with a second jailhouse lover, Connor Money, 28, at the same time. Money was serving nine years for killing his best friend in a car crash while escaping police in a 147mph motorway chase near Medway, Kent and Sharif was three years into a twelve-year sentence.
Dale denied but was convicted by a Southwark Crown Court jury of two counts of misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to convey a ‘List A’ prohibited article into prison. She burst into tears as the verdicts were announced after the eight day trial.
For Tony Gooch, who previously appeared in Channel 4’s Banged Up series, reports of such alleged flings come as no surprise, and, from his own experience, they can “easily” end up happening.
Tony Gooch, 43, left his life of crime behind some 15 years ago, when fatherhood prompted him to reconsider his life choices. However, after falling in with a bad crowd as a teen, Tony, from Surrey, initially found himself on the wrong path, and ended up spending a total of 9.5 years behind bars, for violent crimes such as theft, burglary and assault.
While incarcerated, a then 25-year-old Tony struck up a six-month relationship with a female prison guard, who he says was a married woman in her 30s. Speaking previously with the Mirror, Tony revealed: “I got caught up in what they called an improper relationship with a female member of staff. It happens. It’s no different inside than on the outside.
“You could be in a fish and chip shop, and if you see someone that you’re attracted to, and it’s reciprocated, then something will happen. Someone will instigate it and make the first move; the only difference is that the officer should have some professionalism.”
Recalling the moment the dalliance began, Tony shared: “The minute we locked eyes on each other, you could just tell there was something there.” He said they started flirting, and it progressed from there.”
Tony and his prison officer lover even managed to snatch moments of physical intimacy, despite knowing the risks. He admitted: “We would get a quick 10 minutes together. We squeezed it in when we could.”
The pair spent so much time together, despite the guard being stationed on another ward, that their closeness didn’t go unnoticed by others at the prison. In the end, another prisoner got wind of the fling and told the other officers.
“You don’t want anyone else to know about the relationship because if someone is jealous, they’ll more than likely grass you up to the officers. Which is what happened in my case,” he said.
Mr Gooch was forced into segregation for 16 weeks which he described as “torture” while the officer in question was struck off, he says. He was then moved to HMP Wayland as a result.
“What the public doesn’t realise is that your life is made hell as an inmate too. You’re going to get put in segregation for a long time, you’re going to get shipped to another prison because you’re deemed as a security risk – they don’t know what that female officer has told you about the inner workings of the prison.
“It goes on to your record as well. It can cause a prisoner a lot, a lot of problems. It can jeopardise a de-cat, where you can be put into a lower category prison, so it’s more secure [a Category D prison]. For an officer, they’re immediately dismissed.”
Looking back on this time, however, Tony has no regrets about the romance, explaining: “There are certain things you have to go without in prison, and one of them is sex. When you go through the prison system, everything in your life you hold dear is taken away.”
He continued: “It’s extremely difficult to make the transition. If something you miss dearly is then offered to you on a plate, you’re more than likely to take it. You have to be a very strong-willed person not to. I know people who have been married for years and years and have been propositioned by staff and are taken instantly.
“If you’re doing a long prison sentence, you might never get the offer again. And it’s a long time to go without having relationships with women. And it’s not just the sex – you miss cuddling a woman, kissing a woman, because that again is limited on visits. So it’s sort of having that, that intimate relationship that you’re used to outside and what adds to it is that it brings out that naughty boy side of you – you shouldn’t be doing it and you’re doing it.
“And you sort of realise that if any of the inmates in that prison had the same opportunity as you, they would be doing it, and they’re not, and you are. So it sort of adds to the intrigue.”
In Tony’s view, “As long as there are females around males, there will always be an occasion when two individuals are attracted to each other and something’s going to happen.” He added: “They could increase the prison sentences for female staff as a deterrent but look at British society as a whole – they give out 30 years for murder and people still kill so I don’t think that would work. And it’s not just officers, I know people who have had relationships with prison nurses, receptionists, probation officers. It can happen anywhere.”
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