A prison officer who had a relationship with a killer inmate has been jailed for eight months. Olivia Hodgson, 26, first became involved with Lavarne Forde-Morgan, serving a life sentence for murder and possession of firearms, in early 2020.
But their affair was only fully uncovered more than a year later when officers raided her home and found a birthday card with Forde-Morgan’s fingerprints on it. Police said Hodgson had been a prison officer at category B HMP Garth, in Ulnes Walton, Lancs., for three years before the pair had begun their relationship.
They had communicated through mobile phones that Hodgson smuggled into the jail - using a variety of numbers and “chat applications” to avoid detection. However, in January 2021, Forde-Morgan was transferred to another prison, where he was subjected to a cell search following intelligence reports.
