A prison tutor who sent “explicit” love letters to an inmate and was found “flustered” alone with him in a locked room has been jailed for eight months.
Handwritten letters from Melissa Murphy, formerly Melissa O’Brien, 49, containing “explicit romantic and sexual content” were found in a HMP Chelmsford prisoner’s cell, and a photo of the inmate was found at her home, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
In a disciplinary interview, she admitted writing love letters and locking herself in a workshop with the inmate, but denied any physical relationship.
She admitted having an inappropriate relationship with the inmate and was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.
On 8 December 2023, Murphy requested that the prisoner be brought to the workshop despite there being no scheduled class that day, Judge Jamie Sawyer said.
“This unusual request raised concern. You were later found alone with him in a locked room, appearing flustered when the door was opened,” he said.
Murphy began a role in 2020, providing vocational training to assist prisoners in gaining employment after release.
She was first arrested on 11 December 2023 and her role as a teacher was terminated.
Murphy was then charged on 12 February 2025. On 28 November, at a hearing in Chelmsford Crown Court, she pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in a public office.
On Friday at the same court, Judge Sawyer said: “Ms Murphy your offending is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.
“You held a position of trust within a prison and abused that trust by engaging in a romantic relationship with a prisoner, exposing yourself to corruption and undermining confidence in the prison system.”
The court heard a sim card was found in Murphy’s house and correspondence where there was encouragement from the inmate to provide the sim card to maintain private contact with him.
The judge said he could see no evidence that this occurred but remarked that the potential was obvious.
The prosecution did not suggest that a physical relationship had occurred and Murphy also denied physical intimacy.
Jailing Murphy for eight months, describing the offending as an “isolated lapse”, the judge said: “The victim here, and in my judgment there is a victim, is the public.
“Confidence in the prison system is essential. And your actions have further eroded that confidence, particularly at HMP Chelmsford.”
The judge told Murphy she would serve up to 40 per cent of the eight-month sentence in custody.
