A prison officer who was caught in a police chase with an escaped convict she was having an affair with has described her time in jail as like "being on a school trip with my mates." Chloe Jones was travelling from Manchester with Philip King, who escaped prison after being locked up for burglary and theft, when they become involved in a high-speed pursuit.
The former custody officer had started working at Altcourse prison where King was serving his sentence - with the pair soon becoming involved in a relationship. King was then transferred to HMP Sudbury near Derby on July 18, 2017, however the couple used a contraband mobile phone to keep in contact.
They sent more than 3,000 messages to each other over the next 46 days. King then escaped from HMP Sudbury and was invited by Jones to stay at her family home in Kirkby, Manchester Evening News reports.
She also allowed the wanted inmate to use her car while they remained in a relationship. King continued to work as a prison officer at HMP Altcourse during this period of time and chose not to tell her employers about her partner.
King later drove Jones' Ford Fiesta to the scene of a burglary. The next day King and Jones were involved in a police pursuit. Last month Jones, talking to podcast I Kidd You Not , spoke about how she became involved with King while working at Altcourse.
She said: "We used to see each other around and say hi and whatever. He was walking around with his top on ."
Jones told the show that she only began a proper relationship with King after he escaped from prison. Jones told presenter Joe Kidd she travelling back from Manchester with King in a stolen car when they became involved in police pursuit.
Jones explained how King stopped the stolen car and told her to run. She said: "I left my shoes, my bag, my phone, everything. I was following him, running after him. And then the bizzie just scooped me up and threw me in the bizzie van."
Although Jones was arrested after the police pursuit, she was not charged with an offence. Jones was released under investigation and re-arrested in October 2018 and charged.
She later admitted misconduct in a public office and was handed a 15-month jail sentence. She said: "A year later [the police] barged in my mum's house with sniffer dogs and all that. I was laughing and my my mum was like 'what are you laughing at.'"
Jones said that the police thought they have found expensive jewellery and watches in the house. She said: "They were like 'yes twenty five grand watch' and I was thinking no mate they are worth seventy quid."
Jones told that her induction to Styal prison in Cheshire was an unusual experience. She said: "They walked me down and I thought I am going to jail so its going to be a wing. But then they took me down to an old fashioned house. I felt like I was on a school trip with my mates."
Jones said that when she was moved to a Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire staff wanted to place her on a special wing for her own protection because she was a former prison officer. She said: "I was like no its fine I got on with all the girls at Styal its fine."
In 2020, David Watson, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how Jones struck up an inappropriate relationship with the convict after she was in daily contact with him. Nicola Daley, representing Jones, explained she was genuinely remorseful for her actions, and had only been a prison officer for about six months when she was "blinded by love".
In a letter to the judge, Ms Daley explained that her client expressed genuine remorse, in particular for the shame she had brought upon her family. King was ordered to serve another 36-month prison sentence consecutive to his previous sentence.
After Jones was jailed Detective Inspector Dawn Hampson from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: "Chloe Jones abused her position as a prison officer by choosing to have an inappropriate relationship with an inmate and she will now have to face the consequences of her actions. We will continue to take robust action and investigate any offences which we suspect are taking place in our prisons.'
Director of HMP Altcourse Steve Williams said: "We expect the highest standards of conduct from our staff and will not tolerate behaviour that undermines the good work of our colleagues. If we suspect wrongdoing, we will always share intelligence with the police and other agencies. I'd like to thank my team and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit for their exemplary work."
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