So what was it that first attracted prisoner Dylan Westall to Helen Spree? Old enough to be his mother, the pair appeared to have precious little in common.A mother of two, Spree had enjoyed a successful career as a sales director for an international company.Westall, meanwhile, had racked up a string of convictions for drugs, theft and violence and was serving a life sentence for his part in a shooting that had seen a teenager killed with a bullet to the head.Yet such was the divorcee’s infatuation with Westall that she even had two pillows custom-printed with a photo of him – complete with cartoon gun – which she kept in her £410,000 Liverpool home.And when 35-year-old Westall first set eyes on Spree, 63, he too saw beyond their differences – and focused on the advantages that came with her role as a prison watchdog.Entitled to carry her own set of prison keys, Spree had access to inmates at any time and in any part of HMP Liverpool.She was also privy to information about discipline and cell searches – powers bestowed on her to ensure the treatment of those serving time in the jail was ‘fair, just and humane’.Unfortunately, as emerged last week in court, Spree took her duties to an entirely new level. A mother of two, Helen Spree had enjoyed a successful career as a sales director for an international company Dylan Westall had racked up a string of convictions for drugs, theft and violence and was serving a life sentence for his part in a shooting that had seen a teenager killed with a bullet to the head Such was the divorcee’s infatuation with Westall that she even had two pillows custom-printed with a photo of him – complete with cartoon gun – which she kept in her £410,000 Liverpool homeHaving developed a ‘teenage’ crush on Westall, she began smuggling contraband into the prison on his behalf.At the same time the pair exchanged sexually explicit images, phone calls and messages.‘Just to let you know that I am thinking about you like crazy,’ she wrote in one card. ‘Keeping you in my thoughts xxx.’And, incredibly, Westall wasn’t the only convict to catch Spree’s eye.At the same time as their sexting, she was doing the same with another hardened lag, 44-year-old Thomas Porterfield. A third inmate, who can’t be named for legal reasons, followed.Phones, cannabis and tobacco were among the items smuggled in to the jail. Indeed, so regular were her deliveries that she joked she was like the ‘prison version of Deliveroo’.Last week Spree and those involved in the plot appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing. Jailing her for five years and three months, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said it was ‘hard to imagine a greater betrayal of the public’s trust’.Strong words but not as strong as those of the grandmother of 17-year-old James Meadows, in whose brutal killing Westall had been involved. At the same time as sexting Westall, Spree was doing the same with another hardened lag, 44-year-old Thomas PorterfieldSpeaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Teresa Meadows said: ‘She deserves to be sent to prison. It’s disgusting doing what she did for any prisoner – and especially Westall.‘She’s in a position of trust. She should be ashamed of herself.’How Spree went from holding the keys to a prison to being locked up in one is quite a journey.While she had enjoyed a successful career working for a global company selling protective workwear, her personal life had been more problematic. Her two marriages, from which she has a grown-up son and a daughter, had both ended in divorce.The second one ended about a decade ago after her husband left her for her best friend, with whom she had worked.It was a ‘vitriolic’ split, a source told the Daily Mail, which inevitably saw the old friends falling out.Keen to become a ‘force for good’ and encouraged by a close relative who worked at the prison, not long afterwards Spree applied to become a member of the independent monitoring board (IMB) for HMP Liverpool.Every prison in England and Wales has an IMB which is staffed by volunteers and which works with the Ministry of Justice to monitor the treatment and conditions in which prisoners are kept. Her two marriages, from which she has a grown-up son and a daughter, had both ended in divorceMembers are allowed to go anywhere in the prison they are assigned to, talking to inmates and viewing documentation relating to their imprisonment. They also carry their own set of keys and largely work unaccompanied, sharing their findings in monthly board meetings and annual, published reports.During her recruitment, Spree went through the same sort of enhanced level vetting as prison staff, as well as undergoing a period of probation.She would have also been made aware of the risks of working in prisons, including being ‘corrupted’ by the inmates.Having joined the HMP Liverpool board in April 2017, she was appointed its chair at the start of 2021 – apparently because none of the other ten or so members wanted the job.But, the court heard, it wasn’t long after finishing her probation that she embarked on ‘inappropriate relationships’ with three prisoners. The first involved Porterfield, who was serving 13 years for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life. Phone contact between the two lasted between at least December 2019 and June 2020.This, the court heard, included ‘sexually explicit chat and the exchange of sexually explicit images and videos’ – although Spree said that none of the relationships ever became physical. She also arranged to smuggle cannabis resin, an iPhone charger and SIM cards, tobacco, cigarette papers and a lighter into the jail on his behalf.That relationship overlapped with the one with Westall, who had just begun serving a life sentence for the manslaughter of Mr Meadows, who was a pillion passenger on a bike in Huyton, Merseyside, when he was shot in 2017.Again there was an exchange of sexually explicit material. A thank-you card from Westall was also discovered which read: ‘You Masterpiece [Spree’s nickname]. Hugs and Kisses, Dylan xxxxx.’Westall also introduced Spree to his younger brother, Michael. The pair then met in Liverpool and at her home where items including cannabis resin and an iPhone were delivered ahead of being taken into the prison.On numerous occasions Spree was seen talking to Westall in his cell or on his landing. On two occasions in 2020 she paid £50 into his prison account.When Westall was transferred from HMP Liverpool in October 2020 she unsuccessfully tried to block his move.After he left, Spree remained in contact with Michael Westall, who began instead handing her similar contraband on behalf of the third prisoner. Her relationship with this inmate was said to have spanned from March 2021 until her arrest in the summer of that year, with the two ‘confessing their love for each other’.In one message between them, Spree wrote: ‘Love you so much..., sweet dreams. I will be thinking about you xxx.’The prisoner replied: ‘Ok my love... can’t wait to see ya... love u xxx.’ Concerns about Spree being overfamiliar with inmates had been regularly highlighted by staff members.Between February 2020 and July 2021 no fewer than 78 ‘corruption intelligence reports’ were submitted to HM Prison and Probation Service. In June 2021, the third prisoner’s cell was searched and an iPhone recovered.A contact saved on the device linked to a number belonging to Spree.In August of that year, Spree was arrested as she arrived at the prison. Her house was searched and her phone seized, revealing the extent of her wrongdoing.As well as the sexually explicit content, she was also found to have provided the prisoners with details of searches, prison officer deployment, when matters were being referred to the police and when police searches and arrests were due to take place.She was also openly critical of the police and prison staff. They also spotted a tattoo on her chest of a bumblebee. Beneath it was the word Masterpiece – the nickname she used when writing to her prison crushes.Spree pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office, conveying prohibited articles into a prison and supplying a controlled drug.In mitigation, her barrister Arthur Gibson said that while outwardly successful and a ‘strong character’, Spree had endured a ‘personal life of abuse and trauma’. Mr Gibson said she had been left mentally damaged by her dealings with men and suffered from ‘very low self-esteem’. It meant she was ‘easily susceptible to making seriously wrong judgments. Much of what she said in the messages was simply bravado in order to attract more flattery and praise,’ he said.He claimed her offending began when she ‘stood up’ for Porterfield in a row between him and a prison officer over him being moved to an excrement-covered cell.From that point on she was seen ‘as somebody on the side of inmates’. Having helped get Porterfield some tobacco, matters ‘snowballed’.As for Westall, Mr Gibson said the extent of her emotional involvement was shown by the cushions – ‘something associated with a teenager’s first love, not a divorced woman in her late 50s.’Since her arrest Spree has had to downsize her home and, prior to her imprisonment, was claiming benefits.Her actions, he said, had not been motivated by financial gain. Instead, Mr Gibson told the court, she simply enjoyed feeling ‘loved, appreciated and wanted’ when ‘in reality she was simply being used’.But Judge Flewitt said Spree had played a ‘leading role’ after forming ‘corrupt’ relationships with prisoners. ‘They were deliberate offences that required a high level of planning and sophistication,’ he said.‘And while I accept Helen Spree was manipulated by her co-defendants to some extent, she was well aware of the risks of forming relationships with prisoners and was in no way coerced.’Porterfield and Westall admitted conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into a prison, conspiracy to supply cannabis and unauthorised possession of a mobile phone in prison.Porterfield was given a 22-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. Westall, currently serving a minimum of 22 years, was jailed for 12 months to run concurrent to his existing sentence.His brother, of Fazakerley, Liverpool, admitted conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into a prison and conspiracy to supply cannabis. The judge handed him a 20-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.The prisoner who cannot be named was found guilty of conspiracy to convey banned articles into a prison following a trial. He was jailed for two years and ten months.Afterwards Detective Superintendent Claire McGuire, of the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: ‘Helen Spree’s behaviour was a calculated and sustained abuse of a position that exists solely to protect the welfare and rights of people in custody.‘Independent monitoring board volunteers are entrusted with exceptional access so they can provide independent scrutiny on behalf of the public. Instead of upholding that responsibility, Spree chose to exploit it for personal and criminal gain.‘Her actions undermined the safety and stability of the prison, compromised the integrity of the IMB system, and betrayed the trust placed in her by colleagues and the public.’A betrayal that will see her spending the next few years living alongside the sort of prisoners she once set out to help.