Married prison psychologist fell pregnant after affair with mentally-ill inmate

Stephanie Reeves, 30, had sex with the convicted criminal in the lavatories of a secure hospital unit while escorting him to the gym.

Reeves - whose husband also worked at the unit - said she loves the prisoner and plans to raise the child with him if he is ever considered safe enough to be released.

He is currently being treated for paranoid schizophrenia at Ashworth secure hospital, where patients include Moors murderer Ian Brady.

A judge told her she had committed "a grave breach of trust" by having sex with the patient, but because of their feelings for one another he decided to have "mercy" and not jail her.

She was given a 12-month suspended sentence after admitting sexual activity with a mentally-ill person in her care.

The heavily-pregnant defendant sobbed in the dock at Preston Crown Court as details of her bizarre relationship unfolded.

A psychology graduate, she was a highly-regarded counsellor at Guild Lodge medium secure unit when rumours began to spread about her relationship with the prisoner, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

After being jailed for offences including burglary, the man, a 20-year-old from Fleetwood whose father has a conviction for manslaughter, had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and sent to Ashworth in Merseyside.

But his symptoms had improved and he was transferred to Guild Lodge, near Preston. There he had therapy sessions with Reeves, who had recently separated from her husband of one year, support worker David Lea.

She denied having a sexual relationship with the prisoner when confronted by managers in June last year.

But a few days later she resigned, handing bosses a written confession that they had sex on June 23.

Records confirmed there was a 25-minute period when he was in her sole care.

"He made advances towards her," said her barrister, Bill Swalwell.

"He went to kiss her, she immediately stood back, he went to kiss her again, and then she responded."

Reeves - now using her maiden name - was arrested and charged under the Sexual Offences Act.

She reportedly told colleagues: "I want a baby - I don't know why my husband doesn't. I am keeping this child."

The court heard that the father of the baby, a boy due in two or three weeks, had since been sent back to Ashworth after his mental health worsened and he became increasingly difficult to control.

Nevertheless Mr Swalwell said Reeves intended to set up home with him if and when he is released and raise the child together.

He was said to regard the relationship as "the best thing that has ever happened to him", giving him an incentive to work with those treating him.

His mother, who sat in the public benches during the hearing, is supportive of their relationship, added Mr Swalwell.

The sex took place when Reeves was "lonely, vulnerable, had low self- esteem and was not thinking clearly".

Judge Norman Wright said sentencing guidelines for such a "grave breach of trust" required him to jail her.

However the circumstances were so exceptional that he was suspending her sentence for two years, "mercy still having a part to play".

He added that the supposed victim was in reality "far from aggrieved - he's only aggrieved by you being prosecuted.

"He's proud that you're expecting his child and wants to continue his relationship with you once he regains his mental health."

Standing in the dock with one hand cupped beneath her prominent bump, Reeves, from Wigan, tearfully nodded as the judge said he was confident she would not offend again.

She was ordered to sign the sex offender register.

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the unit, said it regarded such cases as "extremely serious" and had co- operated fully with police.