Preston Crown Court jury clear ex-Kirkham Prison librarian over sex assault allegations on two inmates

A prison librarian alleged to be a "flirtatious predator" wept in the dock as she was cleared of sex attacks on two inmates.

Sharon Mawdsley,46, had been accused of five sexual assaults on two prisoners in the library at Kirkham prison in Lancashire in 2018.

The mother of two admitted that she had had a sexual relationship with a third prisoner but denied she had assaulted the other two inmates, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

A jury at Preston Crown Court found her not guilty after a five day trial in which the prosecution claimed she had touched the private parts of the two prisoners in the library.

It had also been claimed that Mawdsley, from Blackpool had engaged in "highly sexualised" conversations and had boasted about her own sex life and sexual preferences.

Prosecutor David Bentley said that Mawdsley had told of attending swingers' parties and of having lesbian sex in front of her husband.

Stephen Parkinson, defending, said the allegations were "complete and utter nonsense."

The two convicts, one jailed for assault and the other for burglary, claimed that Mawdsley had made remarks like "how big is your penis" and "show us your penis."

Mawdsley was dismissed from her job as a part time librarian after admitting having sex with an inmate in the back office of the library at the end of an evening shift.

She denied in the witness box that she had talked about her sex life and had "definitely not" made any of the remarks which her accusers had alleged.

Mawdsley said that she had only joined in "sex talk " with other prisoners to " fit in with the conversation" and thought " we were having a laugh."

The jury found her not guilty by a majority on three assaults on one prisoners and not guilty unanimously on two assaults by the second prisoner.

Mawdsley had admitted misconduct in a public office over her affair with the prisonere at an earlier hearing and will be sentenced on May 24.

Judge Phillip Parry ordered a pre sentence report and told her that all sentencing options were open.