Former prison officer jailed after helping lover escape from HMP Sudbury
She also met up with him multiple times while he was on the run
Last updated 13th Aug 2021
A former prison officer has been jailed after helping her lover escape from jail in Derbyshire.
33 year old Erica Whittingham, of Leigh Lane in Bramshall near Uttoxeter, was sentenced to three years at Derby Crown Court after admitting to harbouring an escaped prisoner and misconduct in public office.
She had started a relationship with 32 year old convicted robber Michael Seddon while he was serving time at HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire.
The pair remained in touch when Seddon was moved to HMP Sudbury in the Derbyshire Dales, keeping in contact via a mobile phone smuggled into the jail.
At the start of October 2019 Seddon escaped by climbing over a fence. Whittingham acted as a getaway driver.
He was driven to Stoke the following morning to catch a train to Liverpool.
Whittingham was challenged over the relationship while she was at work the next day. She resigned from her position.
As an investigation into the pair was underway Whittingham met up with Seddon on at least eight occasions in different locations across the country.
He was eventually caught in Bournemouth last March and jailed for a further six months for escaping.
Heather Saville, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said:
“This inmate made good his escape thanks, in part, to the assistance of a trusted member of prison staff, tasked to do the absolute opposite.
“Erica Whittingham then continued her relationship with Seddon, irrespective of the police investigation, something the judge has clearly not looked too favourably upon today.
“We work hard, in partnership with the Prison Service and the prisons themselves, to identify any corruption within our prisons establishment.
"This case is a prime example of how far some people are willing to go in their corruption as to assist a man convicted and incarcerated for a violent offence, to walk freely within our communities.”