Prison officer received two love letters signed from her 'baby boy', court hears
An ex-prison officer accused of having phone sex with a locked up convict received two letters from him signed from “your baby boy”, a court heard.
Ruth Shmylo, 26, is accused of having a five-month fling with drug dealer Harri Pullen, 25, while working at a category B prison. Cardiff Crown Court heard Pullen continued to write to Shmylo after she had been arrested and questioned over their alleged affair in which he told her repeatedly he loved her. Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe read extracts from the letters in court and in one with Pullen pleading with her to contact him and signed another from "your baby boy."
Calls Pullen made from HMP Manchester - also known as Strangeways - to Shmylo were recorded with Pullen repeatedly telling her "I love you."
Shmylo was arrested in July 2021 and transcripts from her interview with officers were read at her misconduct trial. After being told of the allegations, she told officers: "I wasn't in a relationship with Harri Pullen. I had a good rapport with him. At one point when he was on my wing he passed a number to me. I said to him 'what's that?' he said 'you know what it is' I said 'you're having a laugh' and left it at that."
She said Pullen then told her: "I'm a serious guy". She told the officers prison bosses told her complaints had been made she had "made sexual advances" to prisoners she described as “untrue”. Shmylo told police Pullen threatened her saying: "Nobody rejects me. Look at me I'm a f***ing model."
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Shmylo received letters from the lag signed from "your baby boy" (WALES NEWS SERVICE)She told police when she rejected Pullen he threatened her brother-in-law who worked in another part of the prison. She added: "He made multiple threats to me since then. He said he knew my address, he would get my car blown up and have my cats killed. I spoke to him almost to pacify him because I was terrified of him."
Shmylo was sacked from her job at Parc Prison in Bridgend after failing her probation period there. The court heard complaints about her included "flirtatious" behaviour with inmates and wearing "skin-tight trousers" to work.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said she should have reported Pullen for having a secret phone behind bars, but instead chose to ring him. He said Pullen would contact Shmylo "daily", and had also had phone sex with her and referred to her as his "Mrs". He contacted her on her birthday wishing her "happy birthday princess girl" and arranged for his mother to meet up with her. Mr Cobbe told the court after being arrested Shmylo admitted she had phone sex with Pullen.
Mr Cobbe said: "She conceded during the course of her interview that she had had phone sex with the inmate. She explained this was principally the inmate saying things to her, noting that 'I was listening for the best part of it'. That means she was actively engaging in phone sex with the inmate - or some of it."
The court heard Shmylo was employed at Parc Prison between August 2020 and April 2021 but failed her probation period and was "released". Claire Wilks, defending, said Shmylo was a "very pretty 23-year-old" who was at obvious risk of being manipulated by Pullen.
She said: "He was a convicted drug dealer, it was an intelligence led operation, he’s the member of an organised crime group. All those factors lead him to being a high risk and whilst he was in custody he was known to be a risk."
Shmylo, of Treforest, Pontypridd, denies misconduct in a public office. The trial continues.
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