- Ruth Shmylo acquitted
- Allegation refuted
- Intimate relationship denied
Ruth Shmylo, aged 26, refuted the allegation of misconduct in public office. The jury at Cardiff Crown Court rendered a verdict of not guilty.
A prison officer implicated in an intimate relationship with an inmate was acquitted of charges of malfeasance in a public office.
The allegation against Ruth Shmylo, a 26-year-old prison officer at HMP Parc in Bridgend, was denied.
Today, the Cardiff Crown Court jury rendered a verdict of not guilty.
She claimed that what the prosecution termed “phone sex” involving her and Harri Pullen constituted sexual harassment during the trial.
“When I first became aware that Harri was masturbating while I was on the phone, I requested that he cease.” “I asked him repeatedly to cease,” the court was informed.
“I perceived to be sexual harassment, he perceives to be phone sex,” she asserted.
“And I wept and pleaded with him to cease. That is precisely what I did.”
The prosecution raised concerns regarding the audibility of Ms. Shmylo’s laughter during multiple phone conversations with Pullen that were played for the jury.
Ms. Shmylo described the laughter as “uncomfortable” and stated that “his death threat was the alternative to a lighthearted conversation.”
The jury was informed that Ms. Shmylo had once declared her intention to relocate to Australia to Pullen, but that “absolutely no longer deterred him.”
She also denied that Ms. Shmylo gave Pullen a “cwtch” (a hug).
She informed the court that upon learning of the death of Pullen’s grandmother, he “literally fell into [her] arms, overcome with grief.”
“His perception of that is that it was a cwtch,” she continued.
Following the jury’s acquittal, Judge Simon Mills expressed gratitude for their service.
