Female prison officer, 27, jailed after having phone sex with inmate at jail

A female prison officer who had phone sex with an inmate after they formed a relationship at the jail where she worked has been handed a 12-month sentence.

Katie Loxton, 27, met inmate Adam Higgs, 32, when she was working as a prison custody officer at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire.

The pair managed to bypass security measures on the phone system at the prison so they could communicate through a fake contact on Higgs’ telephone in his cell, speaking for hundreds of hours.

Higgs made a total of 3,451 calls to the fake contact number, speaking with Loxton for more than 380 hours, costing him £798 between 7 July, 2021 and 13 January, 2022.

A court was told the pair would often ‘perform sexual acts to each other over’ the phone.

Higgs also managed to hide a mobile phone which he used to communicate with Loxton through social media.

Suspicions were raised when Loxton was noticed by other officers to be spending a large amount of time on the block where Higgs was housed.

She was arrested and a search of her home on 27 January last year found three handwritten letters from Higgs.

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Higgs, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, was interviewed about the findings in prison in March 2022 and the pair later admitted their offences at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Loxton, from Sandwell, has now been jailed for 12 months for misconduct in a public office.

She also admitted transmitting or causing the transmission of an image/sound by electronic means from within a prison.

Higgs was also handed an eight-month sentence for possessing inside a prison a device capable of transmitting or receiving images, sounds or information by electronic communications.

He also admitted without authority transmitting or causing the transmission of an image/sound by electronic means from within a prison.

Detective Constable Adam McHugh, of Staffordshire Police, said: “Loxton and Higgs were able to manipulate the security measures of the prison telephony system to hide their relationship from officers and inmates.

“We are committed to upholding the values and conduct the public expected of Public Office workers.

“I’m happy that Loxton recognised her conduct had fallen short of the expected standard.”