A prison psychologist who began a sexual relationship with a life-sentenced inmate and formed a business smuggling mobile phones into jail inside food tins has been sentenced to 28 months in prison.
Dr Amber-Renee Gayle, 32, allowed convicted murderer Rickcarlo Williams, 24, to record their sexual encounters in a “Cabin room” at HMP Swinfen Hall in Staffordshire. The room was normally used for therapy sessions with prisoners, the court heard.
Over six months in 2024, Gayle and Williams exchanged more than 12,000 messages using concealed phones, including intimate photographs. Other messages discussed smuggling handsets, SIM cards, dongles and chargers into the prison, hidden inside a hollowed-out dictionary, a Heinz baked bean tin and a can of Monster energy drink.
The pair charged £50 for a SIM card, £500 for a USB stick and as much as £2,000 for an iPhone, the court was told.
Prosecutor Daniel White said the specially adapted containers enabled Gayle to conceal the prohibited items when entering the prison grounds.
Sentencing Gayle at Birmingham Crown Court, Her Honour Judge Sarah Buckingham described her conduct as a “gross breach of trust”.
The judge told Gayle that her actions “have contributed to a loss of confidence in the prison service” and said: “Corruption creates an unsafe environment for those working in the system.”
Gayle, who wore glasses and a black trouser suit in the dock, received 14 months for conspiring to convey banned items into prison, followed by a consecutive eight-month sentence for misconduct in public office.
Dr Amber-Renee Gayle, 32, allowed murderer Rickcarlo Williams, 24, to video their sex sessions
Rickarlo Williams appeared at the hearing via video link from Swinfen Hall and was ordered to serve another 14 months from the point he becomes eligible for parole
She was given a further six months after admitting that she had misused a computer by accessing the prison’s National Offender Management Information System to obtain details about serving prisoners.
Earlier, Mr White said Gayle was 27 when she joined HMP Swinfen Hall as a psychology practitioner in June 2021. The prison is a closed young offenders’ institution outside Lichfield.
Her caseload included 50 young prisoners with complex trauma needs. Many had previously experienced violence and sexual abuse, the court heard.
Concerns about Gayle’s relationships with prisoners were raised in early 2024, after which she received counter-corruption training. However, in May that year she began a relationship with Williams, who was serving a minimum 25-year sentence for murder.
Prosecutors estimated that the couple brought 35 mobile phones into the prison, along with three chargers, four dongles and nine SIM cards.
The items were believed to have generated up to £9,550 for the pair, although the defence argued that the actual sum was closer to half that amount.
Gayle used a secret SIM card to communicate with Williams’s associates and collect goods intended for the prisoner. In messages, she referred to herself as “Rickcarlo’s girl” and sent her partner stocktakes detailing which phones had been sold and which remained in his possession.
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Investigators also found a gallery of sexually explicit material, including videos of the couple having sex and photographs exchanged while they were apart, Mr White said.
In one message, Gayle wrote to Williams: “I care about you so much. You are my baby.”
The court heard that Gayle had also accessed the prison intelligence database for Williams to check the location of another prisoner.
She warned him when she learned that prison officers were due to carry out cell searches.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Rachel Roberts, a consultant psychologist at Swinfen Hall, said Gayle’s conduct had “a devastating impact on the service”, creating confusion and anger and undermining prisoners’ ability to trust it.
In mitigation, Stephen Akinsanya MBE described the case as “a tragedy”. He said Gayle had previously been a “young lady of exemplary character” with an unblemished record at school and university who had also undertaken voluntary work.
He said Gayle began working with Williams in August 2023 and that the prisoner made inappropriate sexual advances towards her, which she reported to her line manager.
However, the following year, a personal health crisis and the discovery that her boyfriend of 10 years had been unfaithful contributed to what Mr Akinsanya described as a “gross lack of professionalism in succumbing to Williams’ advances”.
He accepted that the pair had “become business partners and engaged in a sexual relationship in wholly inappropriate circumstances”.
Judge Buckingham told Gayle: “You were given additional training to reinforce boundaries, which clearly did not work.”
She added: “Prison staff have been left tainted by your actions. You were not naive and inexperienced. You were a prison psychologist whom prisoners felt they could trust.
“Far from being under the thumb of Williams, you were his equal, if not in charge.”
Williams, who will not be considered for parole until 2043, appeared via video link from HMP Birmingham. He had admitted conspiring to smuggle banned items into prison and possessing a mobile phone in his cell.
His barrister, Justin Jarmola, said Williams wished to “express his apology and deep remorse and regret at placing Miss Gayle in the position she is today”.
Judge Buckingham ordered that an additional 14 months be added to his sentence when he becomes eligible for parole.
Williams was sentenced in 2022 to a minimum of 25 years in prison for the machete murder of 23-year-old Hussein Al-Saabri in Harrow, north-west London, in 2020.
