Alicia Novas, 19, and 30-year-old Declan Winkless will be sentenced next month
A 19-year-old prison officer and 30-year-old prison inmate have admitted that they were in a sexual relationship in court.
Alicia Novas, 19, from Northamptonshire, and 30-year-old Declan Winkless have pleaded guilty to misconduct charges at Northampton Crown Court today (Monday). Novas provided her telephone number to the inmate and failed to report his possession of a phone and cannabis, the court heard.
Novas, who stood in the dock wearing a black outfit and glasses, and Winkless, who appeared by videolink from HMP Swaleside in Kent, both admitted misconduct in public office between August and December 2024 at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire. They also both pleaded guilty to a separate charge of misconduct on November 23 last year.
The court heard that Novas, acting as a prison custody officer, “wilfully misconducted” herself “in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust”. Winkless is alleged to have encouraged and assisted both offences.
Both defendants admitted making an unauthorised transmission of an image or sound from within a prison, conveying cannabis into HMP Five Wells, and conveying two mobile phones into the category C prison, near Wellingborough. They also pleaded guilty to making an unauthorised electronic transmission of an image relating to HMP Peterborough between December 2024 and March this year.
Winkless, formerly of South Wigston, Leicestershire, admitted a seventh charge of possessing a device with a sim card at HMP Five Wells without authority on December 22 last year. The prosecutor did not open the facts against the defendants during the short hearing.
Novas and Winkless, who wore a grey T-shirt, both spoke only to confirm their names and enter their pleas. The 19-year-old, of Raunds, Northamptonshire, had previously been on conditional bail but was remanded into custody after pleading guilty, while a woman sitting in the public gallery cried into a tissue.
The defendants were told they will be sentenced on January 5.
