A Bucks prison nurse who had a secret relationship with a prisoner at a Bucks young offenders institution has been given a suspended sentence.

Bernice Ivey, aged 32, of Eksdale Road in Aylesbury, pleaded guilty to wilful misconduct in public office and transmitting or causing transmission from a prison and was sentenced at Amersham Law Courts on Monday.

While she was a senior staff nurse at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution, which holds prisoners aged 17 to 21, Ivey engaged in a relationship with a male inmate from March 2017 to October 2017.

Ivey failed to tell her superiors at the prison that the offender she was in a relationship with had access to a mobile phone, and that she made contact with him on it several times.

She also engaged in “unwarranted personal contact” with the prisoner in the healthcare department, and despite receiving training on how these kinds of relationships are wrong, continued to pursue it, failing to inform the prison governor of what she was up to.

At Amersham Law Courts, Ivey was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years, and was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Investigating officer PC Maureen Moore of the Prison Investigation Team, said: “The existence of corruption in prisons will always lead to an issue of order and control.

“Ivey was in a position of trust and she abused that position in a medical setting within the prison.

“She also failed to inform the prison governors that the man she was having a relationship with had a prohibited mobile phone, with which they communicated together.

“It is essential for the safety and security of officers and staff within prison settings that all members of staff are trustworthy to allow the safe and secure running of the establishment, and Ivey’s behaviour fell far below what is expected, and she has now been sentenced accordingly.”