Governor at prison with Britain’s only trans wing is under fire for allowing two staff members to hold a jail baby shower for their lovechild ‘after they had affair at work’

Two senior prison officers allegedly had an affair before one of them threw a prison baby shower for his love child, the Mail has revealed.

The pair allegedly held management roles at HMP Downview in Surrey after the male police officer had sexual intercourse while he was married.

Shocked inspectors at the women’s prison heard what was happening and told the prison warden, Amy Dixon, because they feared there might be a risk of blackmail.

While criticizing her behaviour, the Mail understands Ms Dixon allowed a baby shower to be held in prison.

The female officer proceeded to take the child to a Family Day for staff and inmates.

The man was transferred to another prison and now holds a senior position. She is also a member of a group tasked with setting policy across women’s prisons.

The Prison Service said an ‘internal review’ found there were ‘no breaches of conduct, no concerns of corruption and no grounds for disciplinary action’.

Former governor Professor Ian Acheson has warned that inappropriate relationships between prison staff leave them ‘open to potential manipulation’.

Miss Dixon receives award from Princess Anne for helping difficult and vulnerable female prisoners at HMP Holloway

‘Junior staff are being hung out to dry due to inappropriate relationships in the workplace; “The same rules should apply to senior staff,” he said.

‘The state has no business in people’s bedrooms, but when this behavior spreads into our prisons it must be tackled quickly and harshly.’

The alleged affair was common knowledge among staff and inmates at Downview, and the pair were seen acting flirtatiously around each other.

Both officers held the rank of governor, which is used by rulers who report to a single ‘executive governor’.

Ms. Dixon has been at Downview since 2022, after stints in several other prisons.

The Mail referred the affair allegations to Downview’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) after being contacted by a tipster.

A spokesman responded: ‘We are aware of the allegations. Our board members received various reports from staff and inmates regarding the aforementioned incidents.

‘We conveyed the Board’s concerns to Governor Dixon on various occasions, both in the Board environment and in one-on-one meetings. He seemed pretty annoyed about us tracking the issue.

‘The particular concern we expressed was the risk of corruption: the male governor, we were told, was married and some of the couple’s intimate behavior was visible to other inmates (for example, in the staff cafeteria where the inmates worked).

‘We also had concerns about the environment the relationship created for female prisoners. Prisoners complain much (often rightfully) about arbitrary behavior and expectations of staff, and about the lack of procedural fairness in the prison environment.

Prisoners at ‘HMP Downview’ are also subject to a ‘healthy relationships policy’.

‘It is obviously difficult for them when they see staff behaving in ways that give conflicting messages about the behavior expected of prisoners and affect positive relationships with staff overall.’

HMP Downview is a closed women’s prison on the outskirts of Banstead in Surrey.

Downview IMB said it had referred the allegations to HMPPS’s national and regional Anti-Corruption Unit.

The spokesman added that the IMB was ‘surprised to receive a response from the regional team stating that there would be no need to consult Board members with relevant information or obtain further details from us’.

A Prison Service spokesman said: ‘The internal review concluded there were no breaches of conduct or concerns of corruption here.’

There have been numerous scandals regarding inappropriate relationships in UK prisons in previous years; Most of these involved guards getting close to prisoners.

Downview saw its own scandal in 2011 when lieutenant governor Russell Thorne was sentenced to five years in prison for having an affair with a female prisoner.

Thorne, then 41, was convicted at Guildford Crown Court of misconduct in a public office between 2006 and 2010.

The prisoner, who was not named at court hearings, told how he made Thorne pay for his infidelities with cash or gifts he selected from the Argos catalogue.

Concerns about failings at Downview have been raised further recently, including a major security breach in October that led to an incompetent employee rushing a prisoner out the door.

As the Mail previously revealed, the male kitchen worker wanted to leave the prison to buy tomatoes from nearby HMP Highdown and made the extraordinary decision to take a prisoner along to help.

Downview’s former lieutenant governor, Russell Thorne, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2011 for having a three-year affair with a female inmate.

Staff were able to walk out the door with the prisoner and past security staff who ‘didn’t even bat an eyelid’ before guards arriving for their shift saw what was happening and raised the alarm.

The prison was placed on total lockdown and all governors were summoned. The prisoner was placed in isolation before being transferred to another prison.

Downview’s latest IMB review has raised a number of concerns, including the ‘alarmingly’ small number of prisoners being temporarily released to work with potential future employers.

Prisons minister James Timpson has repeatedly said that providing work programs for prisoners is a priority for the government.

The IMB also expressed concern about the number of women with serious mental health problems being held in Downview.

Inspectors found there had been a 90 per cent increase in the number of prisoners facing long delays in their transfer to secure psychiatric settings in the last two years.

Downview is Britain’s only prison with a dedicated wing for trans women with a history of violent or sexual offending.