Female prison officer who formed 'highly sexual' relationship with convicted rapist jailed
Livvy Edney, 44, became involved with inmate Paul Young while working at HMP Channings Wood in Devon.Exeter Crown Court heard Edney began working at the prison in 2020 and started the relationship with Young in November 2022 after becoming his supervisor. The prison authorities became suspicious and Young – serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection after being convicted of assault by penetration – was transferred to another institution in January 2023. Edney used two pay as you go mobile phones, registered a false name and gave an address of a relative of Young to the prison authorities to keep in touch with him after he was moved. The court heard their telephones calls were recorded by the prison authorities, in which they declared their love for each other.
Young also read out poetry he had written for Edney, and they discussed plans for taking a trip to Venice after he was released. Edney was arrested at her home in March 2023 and in police interviews denied any relationship with Young or knowledge of the two mobile phones found at her address. Young’s cell was also searched and letters, notes and a Valentine’s card from Edney were recovered. The card depicted two penguins and contained a “sexually intimate” message, which read: “Happy Valentine’s my love, the first of many. “Roses are red, violets are blue, I’ll make you scream when I put my strap-on inside you. “Love from your Valentine.” Edney, of Grenville Avenue, Torquay, previously pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office.
Lee Brembridge, defending, urged the court to impose a suspended prison sentence as the mother of three had since remarried, had a full-time job and was unlikely to reoffend. “She is not the youngest prison officer, but there is a degree of inexperience in terms of the work that she had performed up to the period of her ill health,” he said. “It really should be set against the background that she is someone who has her own vulnerabilities. “Her vulnerabilities are very personal to her, which started in her childhood, and indeed continued in a 20-year relationship with her ex-husband. “Mrs Edney has spent a lifetime living with anxiety, with depression, and everything which comes with a traumatic childhood, which then follows its way into an abusive marriage over the course of 20 years. “Her life, indeed both her family life and her personal life, are now more stable than they have ever been.” 'Highly sexual'Jailing Edney for six months, Judge James Patrick said she was fully aware of the “importance of maintaining boundaries in relation to prisoners”. “Paul Young is somebody who had had a relationship with another officer in the past and that was something which intrigued you,” he said. “From that period, you and he developed a relationship which became closer and closer. “The prison authorities were concerned about you and your closeness with him and as a result of which he was transferred to another prison. “That should have served as a warning to you, but it did not. It’s clear that you then started to set about making contact with him. “You did so using subterfuge, you did so by pretending to be somebody else, you did so using disguised telephone numbers. “You declared in those calls your love for one another, you read out poems, you discussed dating, you discussed meeting, there were multiple references to sexual behaviour. “It can be said on your behalf that you brought the contact to an end. “That said of course you brought the contact to an end, knowing firstly, that he had been transferred, and secondly being very suspicious as to what the authorities knew about you.” The judge added: “I accept that there’s no evidence that there was any physical relationship. “But plainly, your relationship was highly sexual, even if it was not physical. “In my judgment, and with great regret, I conclude that I must send you immediately to custody.”
'Serious breach'Detective Sergeant Will Martel of the SWROCU, said: “Edney went to significant lengths to conceal the relationship, knowing that it was a serious breach of her position. “Corruption will not be tolerated within our prisons. "Working closely with HMPPS, staff across the prison estate and wider policing partners, we will continue to root out misconduct of this nature.”
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