Overview

• Heather Pinchbeck, 28, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court this month charged with making illegal mobile communication with a prisoner.
• Court papers allege she abused the public’s trust by communicating with a prisoner using an illicit device while on duty.
• The alleged conduct is said to have occurred between February and March 2023 at HMP Dovegate, a Category B men's prison in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
• Pinchbeck left the Prison Service during the investigation and is now employed as a business management executive at MIH Group.
• The inmate is reported to be Joseph Hardy, who on September 22 received two concurrent eight‑month sentences for illicit communications and possessing a phone in prison.