Prison officer and inmate sent 5,000 Snapchat messages in fling

A prison officer and inmate shared more than 5,000 illicit Snapchat messages during a secret fling, a court has heard.

Jade Morris, from Holmer in Herefordshire, was discovered to be having a relationship with convicted drug dealer Jerome Nunes, 35, after he flung a banned mobile phone out of a cell window in October 2022.

The 37-year-old former custody officer, who worked in the maximum-security unit at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, also exchanged dozens of WhatsApp messages with Nunes, a sentencing hearing was told.

She pleaded guilty at a hearing in March to offences of misconduct in public office and encouraging Nunes to use a prohibited device. Both are set to be sentenced on Friday.

Opening the facts of the case at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, prosecutor Cathlyn Orchard said Nunes, from Newport, South Wales, had 23 previous convictions and was serving a sentence for a drugs conspiracy offence.

The court heard Nunes had been subject to a cell search in October 2022, leading to the recovery of one of several phones used to communicate with Morris, mainly in the early hours.

Morris initially described the allegations against her as "ludicrous" and denied having any relationship with Nunes after being arrested at her home in January 2023.

Orchard told Judge Peter Carr that the former prison officer had saved the prisoner's number as Ghost in her phone's contacts.

Further inquiries recovered evidence of Snapchat calls and messages and Morris was interviewed again in May 2024, when she admitted communicating with a prisoner who she refused to name, claiming to have been feeling intimidated and frightened.

When describing deleted material and messages recovered during the inquiry, including a letter found on Nunes's phone, the prosecutor told the judge: "It seems implicit that they must have been sharing sexual images."

Nunes pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court in February 2026 to two offences under the Prison Act 1952 for possessing and using an unauthorised mobile phone.

Mitigating barrister Holly Sims, arguing that Morris could be dealt with by a suspended sentence, said: "There is no evidence of any physical contact or of explicit photos being shared between either of the two defendants.

"It is of course conceded that these offences are serious.

"She is extremely ashamed and embarrassed of her behaviour."

Mitigating lawyer Matthew Bolt argued Nunes, who was freed nearly two years ago, could be spared an immediate prison sentenced - describing him as a "man in a hurry" who was running a small food business.

Both defendants, who had been on bail, were remanded in custody overnight ahead of their sentencing.

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Prison officer had secret relationship with inmate