A female prison governor is facing prison after admitting sending WhatsApp messages to a prisoner.

Victoria Laithwaite was found to have sent messages to James Chalmers, an inmate who was sentenced in 2019 for his involvement in a violent burglary.

During a short hearing at Northampton Crown Court on Monday, Judge Adrienne Lucking QC said although the messages only gave a “snapshot”, they suggested a “wider relationship” between the pair.

Laithwaite, 47, was governor at category C prison HMP Onley, Northamptonshire, where she was working as the head of safer custody and equalities. Her role involved having responsibility for ensuring the support of the most vulnerable inmates.

She was arrested in May 2021 after a mobile phone was found in a prisoner’s cell and later pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, Northamptonshire Police said.

Laithwaite, of Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, was released on conditional bail and will be sentenced on Mar 21.

Inmate’s brush with the law

Chalmers, 29, from Coventry, is also due in court on the same date, charged with possessing a mobile phone inside a prison, and appeared at Monday’s hearing via video link from Worcestershire’s HMP Hewell.

In 2019, Chalmers was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to a knife-point burglary during which a £30,000 Porsche was stolen.

The victim was threatened with a knife in the kitchen of his home as a gang of burglars smashed their way in and demanded the key to the Porsche on the driveway.

Chalmers was captured by a CCTV camera as he knocked on the door to check whether anyone was in before pulling down his balaclava mask.

Jailing Chalmers after he pleaded guilty to the burglary, receiving stolen property and two offences of dangerous driving, Judge Sarah Buckingham said: “It was one of the most serious burglaries I have had to deal with.”