Bipolar Mum Journey

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I spent some time in prison. I acknowledge my wrongdoings and accept my punishment. While at HMP Peterborough, I intended to use my time constructively by taking every possible course to improve myself as a parent and person. However, my experience was marred by a coercive sexual relationship with a prison officer who exploited my vulnerability.

This officer, who had a detailed file on me, worked on the mother and baby unit (MBU). One day, he came to C-wing, where pregnant inmates are housed. I inquired if he was there regarding my place on the MBU, to which he rudely replied, “No.” Annoyed by his abruptness, I continued to my job placement and mentioned his behaviour to another officer, which turned out to be a mistake. The other officer relayed my comment to him, and from that moment, he made my life difficult.

Despite his efforts to thwart my placement on the MBU, I eventually secured a spot. On my first night there, he barged into my cell while I was breastfeeding, sarcastically referring to the comment I had made about him being  “Greasy.” I managed to defuse the situation by pretending it was a compliment, a street word for being cool, not an insult. From then on, he fixated on me, frequently visiting my cell and making his obsession evident to both inmates and staff.

Unable to tell him to back off due to his influence over my placement, I had to endure his harassment. He would take my food and drink, boast about reading my mail, follow me to my work placement, drag me in the cell saying there was a bomb scare, ect. His behaviour escalated until he forced himself on me, pushing me onto my bed and kissing me. I won’t delve into more details, but you can imagine the rest.

I was set for early release due to good behaviour, but he interfered by falsely telling my probation worker that I didn’t want the early release. Fortunately, my probation worker saw through his manipulation and understood his controlling nature. Upon my release, I reported his abuse (coercive control) to my probation worker and mentioned the possibility of pregnancy, though thankfully I wasn’t. She accompanied me to the police station to file charges.

Despite progressing in the legal process, my boyfriend and his family feared public shame and pressured me to request the court to proceed without my presence. This allowed the officer to claim I had seduced him and it was a one off occurrence of a sex act (which wasn’t true), resulting in a minor community service sentence for him. However, he did loose his job, preventing him from harming others as he did me.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-peterborough-evening-telegraph/20120106/282540130198183