A prison officer at HMP Berwyn has been spared jail after admitting to illegally accessing computer records for two inmates on more than 100 occasions. Cally White, 26, received a nine-month suspended prison sentence for the unauthorized access.
White, who began her role at the North Wales prison in May 2023, was described by a judge as "extremely foolish" but "extremely fortunate" to avoid immediate custody. She had pleaded guilty to unauthorized access of the computer system. The court heard that she accessed records for inmate Ryan Hamid approximately 60 times, including personal details, offense information, release dates, and case notes. She also accessed the records of Hamid's associate, David Blackburn, 44 times, which included an adjudication record detailing illicit items found in his cell.
Prosecutor Karl Scholz stated that White had no legitimate reason to access the records, as she was not the personal officer or offender manager for either inmate. The illicit access was discovered in November 2024 when prison authorities received information suggesting inappropriate relationships between White and prisoners, including a relationship with Hamid that reportedly continued after his release on license.
An investigation by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit found that White remained in phone contact with Hamid and his sister, even using an alias and remaining on his list of permitted contacts after he was recalled to HMP Altcourse. Recorded calls between them discussed her work, shift patterns, other prisoners, and prison staff, including the head of corruption prevention. During these calls, White allegedly implied she had checked computer systems to update on Blackburn's status.
White's defense argued she was a highly educated young woman with a Master's degree in criminology, whose behavior demonstrated "enormous naivety." The judge acknowledged her "previous exemplary character" but cautioned that corruption undermines the integrity of prison work and that her actions were "dishonest as well as stupid."
White was ordered to complete 10 days of rehabilitation, 200 hours of community service, and pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs. She is the fifth female prison guard at Berwyn to be sentenced in recent years for inappropriate behavior with inmates, with three of those individuals receiving jail sentences.