Lisa Forgione , a psychologist formerly with the UK's prison service, has been permitted to return to her professional duties following a suspension. This decision comes after it was revealed that Forgione engaged in a sexual relationship and exchanged explicit imagery with a high-risk inmate she was treating.
The "personality difficulties" defense at HMP Isle of Wight
While working at HMP Isle of Wight between October 2019 and July 2021, Lisa Forgione developed a romantic and sexual relationship with a high-risk prisoner. When the HMPPS Corruption Team began investigating reports that the inmate had asked Forgione on a date, the psychologist denied the relationship existed. According to the report, Forgione claimed the prisoner was fabricating the affair to "harm her," attributing his claims to "personality difficulties" and a tendency toward "vengeful thinking."
This strategy of pathologizing the inmate's claims successfully misled investigators for a time. The Prison Service initially treated the inmate's reports as "malicious" and warned him to stop spreading rumors. Consequently, Forgione was not only cleared but was promoted to a registered psychologist role within the South Central Psychology team at HMP Winchester in July 2021, shortly before her formal resignation in September 2021.
Topless photos and Moonpig cards at the Bamburgh Clinic
The deception collapsed when the inmate was transferred to the Oswin Unit at the Bamburgh Clinic in Newcastle upon Tyne. Upon arrival, the prisoner listed Lisa Forgione as his next of kin. Despite her previous denials to the Prison Service, Forgione spent hours communicating with the inmate via phone and Skype between December 2021 and February 2022 .
The evidence of the relationship became concrete during a Skype session on February 4, 2022, where Forgione showed the prisoner photos of herself topless and in a bikini. As reported, she also used the service Moonpig to send him a Valentine's Day card. In a subsequent call on February 8, 2022, Forgione asked the inmate to rate photographs of other men, demonstrating a complete collapse of professional boundaries while the inmate was an inpatient receiving treatment for personality disorders.
A £500 fine and supervised practice for Lisa Forgione
A tribunal eventually concluded that Lisa Forgione had breached the Prison Service's code of conduct, though it also noted she had been the target of a harassment campaign by the inmate. The tribunal suggested that Forgione's initial lies to investigators were motivated by a desire to protect herself from this abuse. Rather than a permanent ban, the tribunal ordered Forgione to pay a £500 fine and undergo a period of supervised practice.
To return to work, Forgione must also complete a mandatory course on professional boundaries. This lenient outcome has sparked criticism from observers who argue that the act of lying to a corruption investigation, combined with the sexual nature of the relationship, should have resulted in immediate and permanent dismissal from the profession.
The risk of inmate manipulation in the Oswin Unit
This case highlights a recurring vulnerability in high-security psychiatric settings like the Oswin Unit, where patients often struggle with impulse control and relationship regulation. The power imbalance between a treating psychologist and a "high-risk" offender creates a critical failure point; when a clinician becomes an emotional confidante or romantic partner, the therapeutic process is not only voided but becomes a tool for manipulation.
The fact that Forgione recommended the inmate's transfer to the Bamburgh Clinic—the very facility where she continued her illicit contact with him—suggests a systemic failure in how HMPPS monitors the movements and professional interactions of its clinical staff. This incident echoes broader concerns regarding the "grooming" of staff by sophisticated offenders, though in this instance, the professional was an active participant.
Who is the unnamed prisoner at HMP Falkland?
Several critical details remain obscured in the public record. The identity of the high-risk prisoner, who was later transferred to HMP Falkland, remains unknown, leaving it unclear if he has a history of similar boundary violations with other staff members. Furthermore, the source does not specify the exact nature of the "harassment campaign" the tribunal cited as a mitigating factor for Forgione's dishonesty.
It remains unverified whether any other HMPPS staff members were aware of the Skype calls and Purple Visits app communications as they were happening.. Given that the psychologist was under investigation by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as early as February 2022,the timeline of when the authorities actually regained control of the situation remains murky.
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