Woman, 30, is charged with misconduct over video showing female prison officer apparently having sex with inmate in Wandsworth jail cell
A woman has been charged with misconduct over a video showing a female prison officer apparently having sex with an inmate in a Wandsworth jail cell.
Linda De Sousa Abreu, who was revealed to be the woman in the video by MailOnline on Friday, will appear in custody at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Monday, the Met Police said.
The force launched an investigation after it was made aware of the footage on Friday before arresting a woman and taking her into police custody on the same day.
The shocking clip sees the 30-year-old wearing uniform and begins with her apparently performing a sex act on an unidentified prisoner at the Category B jail in south-west London.
The footage, which MailOnline understands to be recent, then appears to shows her having sex with the prisoner while his cellmate films on a mobile phone. Footage of the cell shows a TV and piles of clothes heaped over a bunk bed.
A friend who is smoking while recording says: 'Guys we've made history, this is what I'm telling you.'
The prison officer's radio, left on a side table, crackles constantly with her colleagues heard on the other channels above the din of prisoners on the landing unaware of what is going on in the cell.
At one point, someone appears to try to come into the cell, at which the man filming, can be heard saying to the person on the other side of the door 'give me a minute, one second.'
The prisoner filming tells his friend to carry on and then pans the camera round momentarily and, grinning, says: 'This is how we roll in Wandsworth.'
He then tells his friend having sex: 'You know you're gangster innit!'
MailOnline revealed on Friday that the woman in the video was De Sousa Abreu who is understood to have recently quit her job as a prison officer in the South London jail following the scandal.
More than 80 prison staff have been sacked or reprimanded since 2013 for having affairs with inmates, according to official statistics.
Ministry of Justice figures reveal that up until last year 59 female staff and 24 male workers were caught.
HMP Berwyn in North Wales had the worst record with 18 female staff found to have had relationships with inmates since the prison opened in 2017.
HMP Wandsworth was put into special measures after a damning report by chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor.
During an unannounced visit, he found eighty per cent of prisoners sharing cells designed for one person, 44 per cent testing positive for drugs and some going without showers for five days.
And despite the alleged escape of terror suspect Daniel Khalife last year, he said security remained a 'serious concern', with staff on the 'chaotic' wings frequently unable to accurately account for the whereabouts of their prisoners.
Built more than 170 years ago, Wandsworth is one of the oldest and most famous prisons in the country. It has had its fair share of high-profile inmates, from Oscar Wilde to, more recently, tennis star turned bankrupt Boris Becker.
In his warning to ministers calling for the category B jail to be placed in emergency measures, Mr Taylor described an atmosphere among prisoners 'characterised by a degree of despondency that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector'.
He said staff are hampered by a lack of experience, poor management and a 'poor or non-existence relationship' with prisoners.
He added that many are suffering from high levels of 'burn-out', with a third unavailable for work each day.
Violence is an acute problem inside the jail, with more than 10 assaults on staff every week. The population - which numbered 1,364 two years ago - had risen this month to 1,513.
'Wanno' – as HMP Wandsworth is known by its inmates – was where former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker spent his first few weeks after being jailed for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case.
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