Prison guard jailed after affair with armed robber inmate (2024)

Claire Lloyd is now in prison just like her 'soulmate'

A prison officer has been sentenced to jail after engaging in a 'romantic relationship' with an armed robber who was locked up in Strangeways and who she referred to as her 'soulmate'. Former Strangeways prison guard Claire Lloyd was jailed for misconduct in a public office, after an inappropriate relationship with Andrew Hall.

Prosecutors confirmed that their relationship did not become sexual, but stated the pair would express their love for each other. The couple exchanged hundreds of phone calls and text messages, with some conversations lasting up to two hours. Lloyd ignored the fact that Hall was using an illicit phone in prison.

When rumours started circulating in the prison about their relationship, Lloyd, 47, claimed that the complaints were 'malicious' and that other staff had a 'vendetta' against her. However, she was discovered and suspended from her role.

Now the mother-of-four has experienced the ultimate fall from grace, joining Hall, 43, as a serving prisoner. Hall received an additional nine months on top of his current sentence, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Prosecutor Justin Hayhoe told Manchester Crown Court that Lloyd underwent anti-corruption training as part of her role at HMP Manchester. He said: "Claire Lloyd would have been fully aware that any relationship with an inmate would have been breaching those rules and would have amounted to a criminal offence."

Mr Hayhoe revealed that whispers of a relationship between the pair began to circulate around the prison. Lloyd made an effort to quash these rumours, claiming she was being 'victimised' by other staff members at the jail.

She was called to two 'support meetings' where she was questioned about whether she was in a relationship with an inmate. However, she denied the allegations, labelling them as 'malicious'.

The prosecutor said that just two days before one such meeting in July 2022, Lloyd had sent Hall a text message declaring her love for him. In another message sent that month, Lloyd assured Hall that she 'had his back'. In the following month, an alarm was triggered in Hall's cell, prompting prison officers to respond. Lloyd arrived on the scene after other officers.

"They told her to leave, saying the incident was her fault and that she was a corrupt bit**," Mr Hayhoe stated. During a second 'support meeting' held in September 2022, Lloyd broke down in tears but did not disclose the relationship. Prosecutors suggested she was attempting to 'gain sympathy and deflect away from her actions'. The police were eventually involved, and Lloyd was suspended a year later.

She was arrested upon arriving for a shift at the jail, and her phone was confiscated. Lloyd provided officers with her PIN number. On the same day, officers conducted a search on Hall in prison using a handheld metal detector. The search indicated that Hall had hidden a metal object on his person.

Police were unable to recover the phone, and Hall was subsequently moved to a different prison. Examination of Lloyd's phone revealed that between April and September 2022, the pair had exchanged hundreds of calls and texts. Lloyd saved Hall's number in her phone under the contact name 'Pete381Jonny', and their messages often concluded with the number 381. Mr Hayhoe explained that '381' stood for 'one word, eight letters, I love you'.

She also affectionately referred to Hall as 'fitty mcvitty', her 'soulmate' and 'big softy'. "It was clear that they were engaged in a romantic relationship, the exact extent may never be known," stated Mr Hayhoe. Hall sent some explicit messages detailing how he had performed a sex act on himself.

Lloyd sent messages to Hall referring to her undressing, and in one text expressed her eagerness to 'kiss and cuddle him'. In July 2022, he expressed his delight that Lloyd was working on his wing in the prison. "Things are gonna get steamy now lol...only messing or am I," Hall messaged her.

During her police interview, Lloyd claimed that other prison officers held a 'vendetta' against her. She explained that their 'friendship grew' after Hall assisted her with 'problem inmates'. Hall requested her number, and although she initially declined, she eventually gave it to him. Lloyd, from Clapgates Crescent, Warrington, admitted to misconduct in a public office.

Hall, an inmate at HMP Garth, admitted to intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence. He was already serving a 14-year extended sentence for an armed robbery at a Derbyshire bank in 2015. During the heist at the RBS bank in Matlock, Hall, wielding an imitation firearm, managed to make off with £1,000 after demanding money from the staff. His earliest possible release date was set for February of the following year, but this was before receiving his new sentence.

Gerald Baxter, defending, described Hall as being 'almost careless about his own position' and expressed that Hall wanted him to convey the positive sides of Lloyd's character. "He clearly feels a sense of responsibility for it, he says that he is devastated that Ms Lloyd is in so much trouble."

Mr Baxter said that according to Hall, Lloyd was well-respected and liked among the prison population, known for her willingness to listen and her helpful nature. Hall credited Lloyd with aiding 'extremely depressed' inmates and offering support to one with suicidal tendencies. He recounted an incident where she courageously pulled a prisoner from a cell engulfed in flames.

Katherine Wright, representing Lloyd, spoke of her client's work-related stress and 'traumatic family events', highlighting the 'kindness' Hall had shown her. Ms Wright pointed out that Lloyd, a single mother to four children, also assists in caring for her elderly parents.

Lloyd, who has since secured employment at a call centre, was described as an 'upstanding member of society'. Ms Wright relayed to the court how the mother of a suicidal child credited Lloyd with saving her son's life after she engaged with the boy.

Ms Wright commented on Lloyd's offences: "These incidents are clearly huge errors of judgement on her part, they are going to cost her dearly. But in my submission, they are wholly out of character for her."

Recorder Andrew McLoughlin deemed the crimes too severe to avoid imprisonment. Addressing Lloyd, he said: "You knew what you were doing was wrong," and noted the five-month duration of the offences.

The judge highlighted missed opportunities for Lloyd to discuss her issues with colleagues, stating: "On at least two occasions you had the opportunity to share your problems and issues with colleagues at meetings, but chose not to. Save in exceptional circ*mstances, any offence of this nature might result in immediate custody." She was jailed for eight months.