A female prison guard has herself been jailed after it emerged she planned to have a baby with her gangster inmate lover.
Alison Sharples, 46, became besotted with 31-year old Marvin Berkeley after he sent her love letters from his cell at Category B Garth jail in Leyland, Lancashire.
The pair vowed to be together after his release from prison and she got jealous whenever his 'moll' girlfriend turned up for prison visits in make-up and stilettos.
As part of their plans to have a baby, Berkeley handed her a plastic bag containing his sperm so she could artificially inseminate herself when she clocked off duty.
But the seven week affair was exposed following a routine search of Sharples' handbag as she made away past a prison security gate for a night shift at the jail in October 2014.
A custody manager seized a purple medicine syringe with the plunger depressed and traces of semen on the inside which was matched by DNA testing to Berkeley.
A month later police searched Sharples' home and found a handwritten letter from Berkeley hidden carefully in her underwear drawer.
At Preston Crown Court, Sharples, a grandmother from Chorley who has since worked as a cleaner and as a carer, was found guilty of misconduct and was jailed for nine months.
Passing sentence Judge Simon Newall told Sharples:
'You had worked in the prison service for a period of 10 years and appeared to have been a respected officer. I have seen a number of references that paint you in a good light. You are hard-working and have a family and care for the elderly.Daily Mail
'But you attempted to become pregnant with this man's child and there was communication between you outside the prison when he was inside the prison.
'The work in the prison service carries a high degree of public trust and responsibility and the integrity of a prison service is dependent on officers acting in a professional manner.'