Linda De Sousa Abreu was jailed after a video of her with an inmate went viral, leading to serious misconduct charges.
London: So, there’s this wild story about a prison officer named Linda De Sousa Abreu. She just got sentenced to 15 months in jail for having sex with an inmate. Crazy, right? The whole thing blew up when a video of the act went viral on social media.
She was charged back in June after the footage surfaced, showing her with inmate Linton Weirich at HMP Wandsworth. The video was filmed by another inmate and spread like wildfire online. Talk about a scandal!
In court, she admitted to misconduct and just sat there confirming her name and address. The judge wasn’t having any of it, saying her actions really messed with the authority of prison staff and put everyone at risk.
Before the video went viral, Linda tried to escape to Madrid and Madeira to let things cool off. But she got caught at Heathrow after telling the prison about her travel plans. Not the smartest move!
She also had to face the music for other sexual encounters with the same inmate. The court heard she was born in Venezuela and had a Portuguese passport. She claimed she was scared for her safety, but the judge wasn’t buying it.
Her lawyer said she took full responsibility for her actions, but the judge pointed out that she knew what she was doing was wrong. The fallout from this incident has been huge, affecting not just her but other female officers too.
HMP Wandsworth’s governor said it took years to build respect for female staff, and Linda’s actions just wiped that out in a day. The Prison Service is now cracking down on misconduct, making sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
