A NURSE from York fell for a young inmate at a top security jail and then visited him at a psychiatric hospital near the city before later marrying him, a hearing was told.

Jillian Carrick, now 42, of Rawcliffe, fell in love with the prisoner, then aged only 20, while working as a nurse at high-security HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire. He was 15 years younger than her.

The hearing was told that when he was transferred to Stockton Hall Hospital, near York, and detained under the Mental Health Act, Carrick repeatedly visited him, giving him gifts, telling staff she was his therapist and failing to say she had been suspended.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing was told Carrick was responsible for managing the nursing team at Whitemoor and was in charge of helping to decide whether inmates should progress to another prison, hospital or be allowed back into the community.

Claire Robinson, for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said the patient – known as Patient A in the hearing – was admitted to HMP Whitemoor in May 2005 at the age of 20 and was due to be released in 2007.

He was part of the therapy group assigned to Carrick, who also spent a lot of time with him as part of her role as head of progression.

She had also been tasked with supporting the patient, who was the youngest prisoner in the Fens ward.

Eyebrows were first raised when Carrick dyed her hair, started wearing make-up and lost a significant amount of weight at the jail, which has housed serial killer Dennis Nilsen and Britain’s most notorious paedophile Sidney Cooke.

Colleagues initially thought the change in look was caused by the end of a relationship but after a multi-disciplinary meeting rejected her decision to release the patient back into the community, she was left “distressed and crying”.

She began spending almost every evening with Patient A and when questioned about her actions and told to leave the prisoner alone, she said he needed help with the transition and agreed to stay away.

But soon after she was seen by colleagues chatting to the young inmate.

Carrick is accused of forming an inappropriate personal relationship with the patient between February 2006 and August 2007.

She is also charged with allowing Patient B at another hospital to hold confidential information, namely drug cards, relating to other patients. In a letter to the NMC investigatory committee back in August 2008, she stated she was unable to challenge the inquiry due to her physical and mental state.

She said then that she would like all communication in connection with the investigation to cease.

Peter Handy, a spokesman for Partnerships In Care, which owns and runs Stockton Hall Hospital, confirmed Jillian Carrick visited an ex-Whitemoor patient there, but the hospital considered she was visiting him as a friend and not as a therapist. “We had certain concerns about the relationship and all the visits were suitably supervised,” he said.

The hearing continues.