A PRISON guard who was jailed after going viral for sleeping with an inmate has broken her silence to slam the “understaffed and hard to manage” jail.
, originally from , told The Sun she is “very embarrassed” after she filmed a steamy encounter with an inmate in his cell.
Prison guard De Sousa Abreu was jailed after sleeping with an inmate
She was filmed romping in a HMP Wandsworth cell with Linton Weirich Credit: Central News
The married mum-of-one worked at HMP Wandsworth when she met , 38.
He claimed the guard brought in Nando’s and Chinese meals for inmates, and gave him where he said conditions were “inhumane”.
But Abreu – who shared an account with her husband – denied taking in Nando’s for Weirich and his friends when quizzed by The Sun at her West London home.
She claimed Wandsworth had been “very understaffed” and “hard to manage”.
She was jailed after admitting misconduct in a public office Credit: PA
Weirich also slammed the jail conditions Credit: Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd
She added: “Everyone’s doing something. I regret everything I did. I’m incredibly embarrassed.”
Abreu, 32, messaged the lag after she got his name from a fellow guard.
Weirich said she told him she knew he had a phone and it was “obvious” she liked him and “her banter was flirty”.
The inmate, who was serving time for a , said: “I added her on and we talked about what she was up to. She was into her gym. Her banter was flirty.
“It was obvious she liked me but I think she also wanted someone to look out for her on the landing. She asked me to sort out an inmate who spat on her, so I did.”
Weirich, who has a daughter, 15, from a previous relationship, admits they had sex “a few times” before — including in an office and his cell.
The viral B-wing romp was recorded by joint-smoking lag “Sharkie” who was heard to say: “This is how we live at Wandsworth. Gangsters online.”
The guard resigned after the sex tape emerged.
Weirich claimed the guard brought in Nando’s and Chinese for the inmates Credit: Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd
She said Wandsworth had been ‘very understaffed’ and ‘hard to manage’
She admitted misconduct in a public office on July 29, 2024, and received 15 months’ jail on January 6 last year.
She served five months at HMP Bronzefield, Surrey, before she was released with a tag on.
At the time Weirich’s partner Emilia Juckes, 32, was pregnant with their son, now 19 months old.
Weirich said: “I didn’t want it to be filmed. You can see I was saying, ‘Stop’ and putting my hand up.
“I had a pregnant partner and didn’t want it getting out. Linda knew it was being filmed but didn’t seem to care about it or her job.”
He said: “People called me a legend, but the effect it’s had is terrible. It caused so much damage to my partner, my family and myself.
HISTORY OF BLUNDERS
SCANDAL-hit HMP Wandsworth has suffered a number of controversies over recent years.
Ex-soldier Daniel Khalife, 24, later convicted of spying for Iran, escaped by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck in September 2023. He was caught three days later.
Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, 24, was mistakenly let out last October. He was arrested nine days later.
The same week William “Billy” Smith, 35, was also freed in error. He handed himself back in.
The “inhumane” Category B Victorian jail, the UK’s most crowded, was put in special measures in 2024. Latest figures show it holds 1,444 lags yet it should house only 894.
On average, a third of staff are absent each day.
“It’s the biggest regret of my life and it damaged everything.”
Weirich had previously done time for burglary, supplying drugs and GBH.
He had been held at in West London, High Down Prison in Surrey, HMP and Peterborough Prison.
Following his jail romp, Weirich was put in segregation for three days but was not arrested or investigated.
He was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs again then HMP Swaleside, Kent.
He said: “Staff came up and shook my hand and said I was a legend.
“They’d say, ‘You’re that guy from the Wandsworth video, well done.’ Inmates congratulated me too.
Emilia gave birth to their son in September 2024. Weeks later, he was by another lag as he held his baby.
As Weirich recovered, he was told he was “high-risk” and ineligible for early release.
He said: “I did extra time because of the video and missed the birth. It adds to the regrets.”
Weirich also slammed the conditions, saying there was “no discipline” and staff are “corrupt”, smuggling in contraband for extra cash.
The 38-year-old said: “Officers don’t run jails any more — prisoners do.”
44 OTHERS IN 5 YEARS
AT least 45 female prison officers have been caught having illicit affairs with male prisoners since 2021 — an average of almost ten per year.
They include:
- CHERRIE-Ann Saddington, 30, who got pregnant by paedo Bradley Trengrove at HMP The Verne in Portland, Dorset, in 2022. She got a suspended jail sentence.
- OLIVIA Johnson, 28, was jailed for three and a half years for trying to smuggle spice into HMP Highpoint, Newmarket, Suffolk, for her inmate lover, in September 2022.
- CORINNE Redhead, 32, was jailed for 25 months in 2022 after a sexual relationship with a robber at HMP The Mount, Herts.
He has served four stretches inside since 2003, said the “system has changed” and jail discipline has declined while
“When I was first inside, the officers were ex-Army officers or security guards and it was like a boot camp.
“But now they’ve got young girls and 19 and 20-year-old guys working as guards and trying to tell us what to do. There’s no discipline.”
“A lot of and make more from bringing stuff in than they earn in salaries.
“They’d bring in phones, , food, aftershave, sunglasses and clothes. I know of one who said he was £5,000 in debt. Prisoners said they could cover it and pay it off.
“Next thing you know he was bringing everything in for them. Some staff will even warn you if your cell is going to be searched.”
He said conditions at HMP Wandsworth in South West London were “inhumane” with lags celled for up to 23 hours a day.
He said: “Any attention when you are in that situation is welcome and that’s what Linda gave me. She used to
“We’d pay £150 for what was worth £30 or £40. I’d get money from bank transfers or cash which people would bring in.”
Weirich said he had paid £1,500 for a smuggled phone — brought to his cell by a prison officer.
A spokesman said: “The overwhelming majority of our prison staff are dedicated, hardworking professionals.
“We’re cracking down on those who aren’t through tougher vetting, a strengthened and over £40million in physical security to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence in jails.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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