A female prison officer has been sentenced to eight months behind bars over her relationship with a convicted murderer at Britain’s most secure prison.
Bethany Dent-Reynolds, 27, from Forest Hill, London, engaged in ‘sexual’ WhatsApp messages and calls with killer Kieran Robinson, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Robinson and his cousin Sean Robinson are each serving 23 years for the murder of Donnell Rhule in West Dulwich, south London, in July 2020.
The pair first met when Dent-Reynolds was working at Belmarsh Prison but their relationship only became romantic after she started a new role as a probation officer at HMP Brixton.
After Robinson initiated contact through social media, they quickly started a relationship with Dent-Reynolds visiting the convict several times after he moved to HMP Lowdham Grange.
Dent-Reynolds and Robinson went on to share a number of sexually explicit messages and phone calls with each other.
The Lewisham Letter reported that she also accessed restricted records about his murder case on a probation computer system and discussed her findings with him, telling him his co-defendants ‘all stuck it on you’.
At Dent-Reynold’s sentencing hearing last Friday, prosecutor Sam Willis said: ‘In a nutshell, whilst working for His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the defendant engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a serving prisoner.
Bethany Dent-Reynolds, 27, has been jailed for eight months over her relationship with a convicted murderer at Britain’s most secure prison
Dent-Reynolds, from Forest Hill in London, engaged in ‘sexual’ WhatsApp messages and calls with killer Kieran Robinson, Woolwich Crown Court heard
Dent-Reynolds in November 2025. She also accessed restricted records about his murder case on a probation computer system and discussed her findings with him, telling him his co-defendants ‘all stuck it on you’
The court heard they swapped ‘sexual’ Whatsapps. Here his messages are in grey and hers are in green
‘On 12 June 2024, Kieran Robinson’s cell was searched. A letter from the defendant was recovered, as well as a diary containing the defendant’s address, mobile phone number, and Instagram username.
‘The defendant’s mobile telephone was downloaded and examined. Numerous WhatsApp messages between the defendant and Kieran Robinson were found on it, including messages of a sexual nature, images of both the defendant and Robinson, and a message from Robinson asking her for a “favour”.’
Mr Willis said Dent-Reynolds accessed the probation service’s Delius computer system using a colleague’s login credentials to look up Robinson’s case files.
He told court of how she shared with Robinson details of police interviews claiming ‘They all stuck it on you’.
The barrister added: ‘She said “everyone had prepared statements except for you’. She went on to say ‘when I was reading it I was like oh my God this is f****** ridiculous. Yeah, makes me angry, But also makes me upset angry. I don’t know like, it’s a mix of emotions, I just want you out”.
‘He then says “I just want to be with you”.’
In other messages, shown to the court, Robinson messaged Dent-Reynolds wishing her an amazing day. To which the former prison officer replied: ‘You too my sweetheart’.
Dent-Reynolds visited Robinson several times at HMP Lowdham Grange between February and May 2024.
Robinson is serving a 23 year sentence for murder. He first met Dent-Reynolds while she was working at Belmarsh Prison but their relationship only became romantic after she started a new role as a probation officer at HMP Brixton
Robinson was jailed for the murder of Donnell Rhule (pictured) in West Dulwich, south London, in July 2020
Call recordings revealed that on April 23, 2024, the pair discussed an incident at a prison and the murderer told her ‘Ahh you don’t even have anyone in there to get the scoop no more innit’.
A day later they discussed strip searches and scans in prison – and the next day Dent-Reynolds told the defendant she had been suspended from her job.
On August 8, 2024, she attended Lewisham Police Station and told them she had been suspended and informed about an ongoing police investigation.
Officers then arrested her on October 17, 2024.
At Woolwich Crown Court in December last year, she admitted to misconduct in a public office.
Chantelle Stocks, defending Dent-Reynolds, said her client was of previous ‘impeccable good character’.
She added: ‘This is not a case where there has been any suggestion of in-person physical sexual contact between the pair.
‘For the most part they exchanged sweet nothings that had minimal impact.’
Ms Stocks, of Adley Gray solicitors, added that Dent-Reynolds suffered trauma from domestic violence as an adult and during her childhood.
She added that the defendant was ‘surrounded by dysfunctional dynamics’.
Dent-Reynolds was jailed for eight months at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.
