A PRISON officer who is said to have cut a hole in the trousers of her prison uniform so she could engage in sordid jail cell romps with a notorious gangster has been jailed for two years.

Stephanie Smithwhite, 40, was an officer at Max security prison HMP Frankland near Durham where notorious criminal Curtis "Cocky" Warren was serving time.

7 Stephanie Smithwhite will be jailed for two years

7 It's thought she cut a hole in her trousers in order to engage in sexual behaviour with the gangster Credit: PA:Press Association

7 Warren once appeared on The Sunday Times Rich List

Smithwhite denied the hole in her trousers was for a sexual purpose, but the sentencing judge said it was hard to imagine why else it was there.

The pair cavorted in his cell, in the kitchen and a laundry room at the jail which houses some of the country's most dangerous criminals.



SENT SAUCY SNAP

They engaged in kissing and oral sex, with Smithwhite sending Warren a saucy snap of herself donning a catsuit.

The disgraced officer eventually told investigators how he became obsessed with her, and would buzz from his cell to call for her attention.

Last month she admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office, with one charge relating to their sexual relationship, said to have lasted between June and December 2018, and the second count regarding her failing to report that she knew he had access to a phone.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said 56-year-old Warren was a "major league offender" who tried to manipulate her into bringing contraband into the prison after starting their affair, and asked her about prison intelligence and security cameras.

'INFATUATED'

The judge said she was infatuated with him, as demonstrated by her tattoo of the name Curtis next to a rose.

Warren was known to have previously continued to run his criminal enterprises from behind bars using mobile phones, but Smithwhite did not report him using a phone to contact her.

He was also known to have seduced other prison staff and Smithwhite failed to resist his charms, despite undergoing training about manipulative and corrupting inmates.

Investigators found they had called each other 213 times in just three months.

Warren was serving a total of 23 years for drugs offences and failing to pay back millions in proceeds of crime - he had also previously committed manslaughter in a jail fight with an inmate in Holland.

The gangster was described as "highly dangerous to the public".

Staff became suspicious of Smithwhite's relationship with him and a surveillance operation was mounted.

SORDID LUST LETTERS

The pair were caught exchanging filthy notes detailing sexual fantasies, with Warren attempting to eat one of the sordid lust letters when he was caught with it.

And during a search of Smithwite's home, cops found more notes, a copy of his autobiography called Cocky, The Rise And Fall Of Curtis Warren, the court heard.

They also found a white Samsung phone in her car which was only used to ring one number - traced to Frankland Prison, and used by Warren, who is from Liverpool.

In interviews with detectives, she was said to be "devastated" but hoped there was an outside chance their relationship could continue.

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Andrew Nixon, for Smithwhite, who is from Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside, said she made a "catastrophic error of judgement".

He said: "This is a woman who has fallen in love with the wrong person".

Detective Inspector Lindsay Banks-Brown, from Durham CID, said: "We hope this result shows we will take action against those people who believe they are above the law and engage in corrupt activity, and we will bring them to justice".

7 Smithwhite was 'infatuated' with the notorious criminal

7 She admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office previously

7 Stephanie Smithwhite faces jail for her fling with a prison officer Credit: Glen Minikin