A female prison officer has avoided jail after admitting to a secret relationship with a convicted rapist she had sex with up to 40 times while on duty.
Cherri-Ann Austin-Saddington, 29, became infatuated with Bradley Trengrove, an inmate at HMP The Verne in Dorset, where she worked as a prison officer. Over a six-month period, the pair engaged in a sexual relationship, often meeting in prison workshops where they believed they wouldn’t be caught.
She was so besotted with Trengrove, who is serving a 13-year sentence for rape and sexual activity with a child, that she smuggled a mobile phone into the Category C jail for him and saved his number under “husband to be” in her contacts.
At one point, Austin-Saddington even fell pregnant with Trengrove’s child, though she later miscarried. She later attempted to get pregnant again by smuggling an empty Calpol syringe in her bra during a prison visit and using it to inseminate herself with sperm wrapped in cling film.
Suspicion and smuggled items
Austin-Saddington, from Weymouth, had already been subject to warnings over inappropriate conduct before the relationship began. In 2020, her probationary period as a prison officer was extended following concerns over her professionalism. By August 2022, she was in a relationship with Trengrove and would attend the prison even on her days off to meet him.
Messages between them revealed the depth of their relationship, with Austin-Saddington describing Trengrove as her “reason for living” and saying she would love him “’til my last breath”.
She continued to contact him after he was moved to HMP Channings Wood in Devon, sending him intimate photos and visiting him under a false name. During a security search on one visit, she was found not wearing underwear and had the syringe concealed in her bra. She was arrested at the scene.
Suspended sentence due to ill health
Austin-Saddington pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and conveying a mobile phone into prison. She was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days. The court heard she had since suffered a serious spinal injury that left her wheelchair-bound.
Trengrove admitted to encouraging her misconduct and possessing and using a mobile phone in prison. He received an additional two years and three months to serve on top of his current sentence.
Judge Jonathan Fuller KC told Austin-Saddington that her actions represented a serious betrayal of the prison service, saying the pair’s behaviour was driven by a “mutual obsession”. He said the only reason her sentence was suspended was due to her current medical condition.
Detective Inspector Alastair Quinn, of the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said the case highlighted how prisoner-staff corruption undermines the entire prison system and that similar investigations would continue.
