Overview
- Heather Pinchbeck, 28, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to misconduct in public office and to making illegal mobile communication with a prisoner.
- The prohibited contact occurred between February 15 and March 4, 2023, involving secret calls, texts and explicit images sent to Joseph Hardy at HMP Dovegate.
- She was confronted over phone use on February 27, 2023, resigned shortly afterward, and was arrested on January 5, 2024, when two phones were recovered.
- Judge Sarah Buckingham cited images found on a device and said they may have been circulated among inmates, highlighting security vulnerabilities.
- Hardy, serving 14 years for a 2017 machete attack, has also been charged over illicit communications and possession of a mobile device while in custody.