A NSW prison officer who impregnated an inmate texted a friend “I'm an idiot” before being arrested for trying to smuggle drugs into prison for his secret lover, according to court documents. It is said that he sent
Amber Clavell, 25, appeared in Penrith Local Court on Wednesday after she was spared a prison sentence after pleading guilty to a series of offenses related to her affair with Mark Kennedy, an inmate at Jeffrey Pearce Correctional Center in Sydney's north-west.
She was caught smuggling 33 grams of methamphetamine, which was secreted in her bra, into the prison at the request of convicted armed robber Kennedy.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, Ms. Clavell was working in the prison's intensive drug and alcohol treatment program at the time she and Ms. Kennedy began their intimate relationship.
In early 2024, the Corrective Services Investigation Unit discovered that she had been accessing the NSW Corrective Services System after hours and making phone calls to inmates using the offender telephone system. An investigation into Mr. Clavell began.
On April 23, she was interviewed by police officers at her workplace and initially said she would sometimes take her work home with her.
During the interview, she admitted to carrying two balloons filled with drugs weighing 33 grams in her bra.
During questioning, she denied knowing Kennedy.
However, detectives discovered a “love letter” to Kennedy that Kennedy had written on his cell phone, in which he mentioned “if you ever come out.”
She later admitted to sharing intimate images with him via Snapchat.
According to court documents, Kennedy was using an illegal phone to contact her.
In a text conversation with friend and fellow correctional officer Jessica Elgindi, she discussed Kennedy's pregnancy.
“I'm an idiot,” she said in a passage included in court documents.
Clabell: “I know, but I'm an idiot.”
Elgindi: “That's not true, so don't say that.”
Clabell: “Literally so.”
Elgindi: “No, you're not. You're a very smart girl with a bright future ahead of you. You just hit a wall, and we'll get through it.”
Clavell pleaded guilty to charges including supplying prohibited drugs, misconduct in office and accessing restricted data.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Stephen Colley also took into account charges of having an affair with a prisoner, bringing prohibited drugs or plants into a place of detention, or illegally handing them over to a prisoner.
And on Wednesday she was sentenced to an intensive corrections order of two years and three months to be served in the community.
