Jail clerk blitzed beauty queen with emails

A prison clerk who sent explicit emails to a former beauty queen has escaped going to prison.

Jerome Logue (34), a single man from Northern Ireland who worked as an administration clerk at Magilligan in Co Londonderry, sent a series of messages, including one with an obscene image, to the prison psychologist, Sarah Ruston.

Limavady Magistrates Court heard yesterday that the offences occurred between May and October 2008.

Ms Ruston was a finalist in the Miss Ireland beauty contest in August 2000 and her mother Christine, from Dublin, is a former Miss Belfast.

The court heard Mr Logue, of Woodland Walk in Limavady, sent emails to the woman asking her for lunch, stating she had “made it clear you fancied me” and said he had “some outfits” he could arrange for her to try on. He also referred to “kinky gear” in one email.

One message included a picture of a male body part with the word “anticipation”.

The court was told Ms Ruston did not know Logue and had to inquire as to who he was.

Defence solicitor David Brewster described Logue's behaviour and harassment of Ms Ruston as “bizarre” and said it was the result of “a very spectacular misunderstanding”.

He said Logue, who has since been dismissed from his prison job, has committed “a cyberspace crime and he had not approached nor stalked the psychologist”.

Sentencing Logue, District Judge Eamon King said he took into consideration a pre-sentence report which stated that Logue presented a low risk of re-offending.

District Judge Eamon King said: “It could nearly be described as a cyber crime.

“You always leave a trail, even if you delete the message and you, with your expertise in technology, should know that.”

He was sentenced to three months in jail suspended for 18 months.

* Source: The Belfast Telegraph