Eighteen-Year-Old Officer Opens Prison to Inmate Drugs

Alicia Novas joined HMP Five Wells at age 18. Within months, she shared her phone number with inmate Declan Winkless. Their 2,873 contacts from August 2024 to March 2025 included calls, videos, and a sexual relationship.

She smuggled cannabis and two mobile phones inside. Novas passed on a prisoner informant’s name. Arrested on December 23, 2024, after a phone seizure, she resigned but made 400 more calls to Winkless.

Northampton Crown Court jailed her for three years on six charges, including misconduct in public office. Winkless, 31 and serving over 11 years for burglary conspiracies, received three years and four months added to his term. Judge Rebecca Crane cited Novas’s inexperience as a factor but noted her persistence even post-arrest.

HMP Five Wells operates as one of Britain’s largest prisons. Private firm G4S runs it. The facility opened in 2022 to ease overcrowding, yet basic security collapsed here.

Recruitment standards allowed an 18-year-old into this role. Teenagers now guard high-risk inmates with histories of serious crime. Winkless had 16 prior convictions.

Prosecutors called the breaches a serious responsibility failure. Passing informant details risked staff and prisoner safety. Drugs and phones enabled wider prison disruptions.

Judges acknowledged manipulation by the older inmate. Yet Novas ignored reporting options. She resumed contact immediately after bail.

Staffing Crisis Fuels Vulnerabilities

UK prisons face chronic shortages. Overcrowding hit 88,000 inmates against 80,000 capacity places last year. Vacancy rates exceed 10% in many facilities.

Governments cut officer numbers post-2010 riots response. Private operators like G4S prioritize cost over experience. Result: Junior staff handle volatile environments.

Novas trained for mere weeks before solo duties. Inexperience amplified risks in a system already strained. Breaches like hers occur monthly across the estate.

Historical comparisons show decline. In 1990, average officer age neared 40 with rigorous vetting. Now, one in five officers serves under three years.

Private Management Repeats Failures

G4S secured the Five Wells contract amid Ministry of Justice desperation. No-bid urgency mirrored other prison leases. Taxpayers fund operations while scandals mount.

Similar cases plague private prisons. A G4S officer at HMP Parc smuggled heroin in 2023. Serco facilities report drone drops and staff corruption yearly.

Public prisons fare no better. But privatization promised efficiency that never materialized. Costs rose 40% since 2010 without security gains.

Cross-party inaction sustains this. Labour expanded private capacity; Conservatives renewed contracts. Outcomes stay static: breaches undermine containment.

This incident exposes recruitment as the weakest link. Hiring vulnerable 18-year-olds for armed, high-threat posts defies basic risk assessment. Prisons now import chaos through their own gates.

Staff safety erodes alongside public protection. Informant exposure invites retaliation. Drugs fuel violence that spills beyond walls.

Ordinary citizens bear costs. Released offenders, hardened by smuggled networks, reoffend at 50% rates. Burglars like Winkless return faster.

The pattern cements institutional decay. Prisons recruit the inexperienced because no one else applies. Oversight fails because operators shield lapses.

Britain’s incarceration system no longer contains threats—it incubates them. Jailing one guard changes nothing when the structure hires her replacements. Decline embeds deeper with every unchecked breach.