Prison officer sacked after befriending inmates on Facebook

By Daily Mail Reporter

A prison officer dismissed for gross misconduct befriended inmates on social networking site Facebook, it has been revealed.

An investigation found Nathan Singh, who worked at HMP Leicester, had been associating with both serving and former prisoners on the website.

The 27-year-old was dismissed in January for gross misconduct after an investigation found he had inappropriate relationships with 13 criminals.

Prison officer Nathan Singh was sacked from his job at Leicester Prison after 13 criminals were discovered on his Facebook page

His links to the criminals were discovered following a prison probe into his activities last year.

The Sun newspaper today reported that an investigation found 27-year-old Singh made friends with the criminals on Facebook.

It is believed they included burglars, fraudsters, and someone who had stabbed someone to death outside a nightclub.

Six of those criminals had received convictions but had not served time in prison for their offences.

One of the photos found on the site included Singh with convicted fraudster Tyrone Leadeatt, who is serving 2 1/2 years in prison for 24 offences.

Singh claimed at an earlier disciplinary hearing that he knew most of the group from school of through playing football.

Today a Prison Service spokesman said the prison officer had been associating with serving and former prisoners, outside the course of his employment and without authority.

'We take inappropriate relationships with prisoners very seriously and staff who break the rules are liable to be dismissed,' he said.

'We carry out thorough checks when we recruit prison officers, looking at character and criminal records as well as nationality and identity.

'The vast majority of our staff are honest, hard-working and professional. We work to create and support a culture which values integrity above all and rejects corruption and dishonesty.'

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