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Helen Spree, once the head of the independent monitoring board (IMB) for HMP Liverpool, has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison following her admission to misconduct in public office, conspiring to supply cannabis, and smuggling prohibited items into the prison. The 63-year-old former watchdog was found to have sent explicit messages to a convicted killer, Dylan Westall, who is serving a life sentence for manslaughter, and smuggled drugs and contraband inside the prison.
Spree’s inappropriate relationship with Westall developed over a 20-month period during which she became deeply infatuated with him. This was revealed during a police search of her home in August 2021, where officers discovered two customized pillows featuring Westall’s face and an image of a gun. She also had a tattoo of a bumblebee holding a love heart on her chest, with the word “Masterpiece” underneath—a nickname Westall had written for her in a thank-you card found by authorities. Despite her role overseeing prison conditions, Spree breached her duties by sending explicit messages not just to Westall but to two other inmates as well.
Having started volunteering for the IMB in 2017 after a successful career as a sales director, Spree rose to become head of the HMP Liverpool board in January 2021. This position granted her unsupervised access to the category B prison, along with keys that allowed significant freedom of movement. Courts heard she provided inmates with sensitive details about cell searches, staff deployments, and upcoming arrests—information that compromised prison security. She also transferred £100 to Westall and smuggled prohibited items such as cannabis, mobile phones, SIM cards, and chargers into the facility. In one message, she described herself as “the prisoner’s version of Deliveroo,” highlighting her role in facilitating contraband deliveries.
During sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC acknowledged that Spree initially appeared to want to do good in her role but ultimately allowed herself to be manipulated by prisoners who exploited her position. He described her offenses as deliberate and carefully planned, emphasizing the seriousness of the breach of trust. Spree, who had no prior convictions, denied any physical sexual contact with the inmates. Her defense lawyer, Arthur Gibson, explained that she had a traumatic personal history and was vulnerable to manipulation due to low self-esteem and a damaged mental state, which contributed to the emotional involvement with Westall evident from her behavior and possessions. Meanwhile, Westall received an additional 12-month sentence for plotting to smuggle items into prison, which will run alongside his 22-year life sentence from 2019
Read the full article from The Guardian here: Read More
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