A WOMAN prison worker who formed an intimate relationship with a prisoner serving time for drug dealing has been spared an immediate jail term, after a judge heard she was expecting a second child.

Megan Breen, 23, was an operational support staff member at the category C HMP Prescoed near Usk when she struck up a relationship with the inmate in 2022.

She met the prisoner and had sex with him in a Liverpoool hotel while he was on home leave and she was celebrating her 20th birthday, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Breen, from Newport, admitted misconduct in a public office and was sentenced to 10 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, with 15 days rehabilitation and £500 in costs.

Thomas Stanway, prosecuting, said police found hundreds of messages between the two on the inmate's prison-issue Nokia phone, including expressions of love and rows over him contacting other women.

Their "short-lived relationship" had continued after the prisoner, who was not named, was released on licence, with Breen making several visits to the Liverpool area.

But the affair came to light when she accessed the prison computer to find his file and told a colleague she was sleeping with him.

Scott Bowen, defending, said Breen was a single mother, a carer for another child, and was pregnant.

"She made it clear it was the most difficult morning of her life saying goodbye to her son (today), and knowing she may not see him for the forseeable future," he added.

HMP Prescoed governor Robert Denman said her actions could have had a “devastating effect" on the jail, damaging its "safety and security".

But Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said her's was an 'exceptional case', and she was able to suspend the jail term, as she had shown "remorse", was not a danger to the public, and her children would suffer without her care.