Pictured: Inmate, 25, had ‘inappropriate relationship with prison officer’ and fling with jail nurse

A female prison officer accused of having an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a male inmate held her middle finger up as she appeared in court today.

Custody officer Ruth Shmylo, 25, made the gesture as she entered Cardiff Crown Court today, after she denied misconduct in public office over the alleged fling.

The court heard she was one of two staff to allegedly have a relationship with inmate Harri Pullen, 25, while he was locked up at category B prison HMP Parc in Bridgend.

Health worker Elyse Hibbs was jailed for six months in October after she admitted having flirtatious phone calls with ‘manipulative’ Pullen while he served his sentence.

Custody officer Ruth Shmylo, 25, made the gesture as she entered Cardiff Crown Court today, after she was charged with misconduct in public office over the alleged relationship

Harri Pullen, 25, is accused of having relationships with health worker Elyse Hibbs and custody officer Ruth Shmylo,

Pullen’s identity was revealed during a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court today, where Shmylo will stand trial in September. 

The prisoner was jailed for five years in 2019 over his role in a drugs gang flooding the streets of south Wales with cocaine and heroin.

He spent time in HMP Parc before being transferred to HMP Manchester allegedly because of suspicions over his relationships with staff.

However, he was handed a further four years and nine months’ imprisonment after a hidden phone was discovered in his rectum when he was being transferred from HMP Manchester to Swansea Prison in preparation for his release.

The court heard that Pullen came into contact with Hibbs and Shmylo while serving at HMP Parc.

Shmylo, of Treforest, Pontypridd, was today handed unconditional bail ahead of a trial in September

Shmylo (pictured) is facing trial charged with misconduct in public office over an alleged relationship with the prisoner

Shmylo will now stand trial over an alleged affair with the prisoner while she was employed as a custody officer at the 1,652-capacity prison.

Claire Wilks, defending Shmylo, said alleged evidence the prosecution were relying on was not relevant to her case.

The charge against her states: ‘While acting as a public officer, namely a prison custody officer, wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.’

Prosecutors have been ordered to serve transcripts of the alleged phone calls between the pair before a trial planned for September.

Shmylo, of Treforest, Pontypridd, was handed unconditional bail.

Shmylo will now stand trial over an alleged affair with the same prisoner while she was employed as a custody officer

 The two relationships allegedly took place while Pullen was serving as a prisoner at HMP Parc in south Wales

Pullen met health worker Hibbs when she was giving him medical treatment in the prison, before contacting her on Instagram. 

Hibbs quit her post at HMP Parc in July 2021, but was arrested a week later and admitted exchanging messages with the prisoner.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, previously said: ‘She explained that she and the inmate were never in a sexual relationship of any kind at all.’

Adam Sharp, defending Hibbs, said in mitigation at her sentencing that the prisoner was known within the system to be a ‘particularly manipulative individual’.

Hibbs (pictured) was jailed for six months in October after she admitted having flirtatious phone calls with the ‘manipulative’ Pullen