UK Prison Officer Jailed after Bodycam Captures Intimate Encounter with Inmate

A former prison officer at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk has been jailed after her own body-worn camera accidentally recorded an intimate encounter with an inmate.

Rebecca Pinckard, 46, from Six Mile Bottom in Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison at Cambridge Crown Court. The footage, captured in July 2024, showed her engaging in a sex act with inmate Erion Nakdi, 42, inside a store cupboard. The evidence came to light when another officer reviewed bodycam material for unrelated purposes, a discovery the judge described as a “clumsy mistake.”

Judge Anthony Cartin noted that the misconduct was not an isolated incident. Pinckard had previously sent Nakdi a Moonpig card to “cheer him up” and failed to report explicit videos he sent her from his cell via social media. Prosecutors revealed that her phone contained videos of Nakdi filmed inside the prison, though the device used to record them was never recovered.

Pinckard had already been cautioned in October 2023 for being “overfamiliar” with inmates, including giving them cakes and sweets. Her defense counsel, Juliet Donovan, argued the incident was a “moment of madness” during a difficult period following the end of a 19-year relationship, insisting it was not a full relationship.

Judge Cartin said her actions “diminish public confidence in the criminal justice system” and imposed the custodial sentence.

Nakdi, an Albanian national serving a 16-year-and-three-month sentence for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, admitted unauthorized possession of a mobile phone in prison between July 2 and 6, 2024. He received an additional 10-month consecutive sentence.

HMP Highpoint, a category C prison near Haverhill, Suffolk, holds around 1,300 inmates and has previously housed notable figures including Tony Martin, Blake Fielder-Civil, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.