Female prison psychologist sent topless photos of herself to inmate and called him 'my rock' in birthday card

By FREYA BARNES, NEWS REPORTER and WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:12, 16 August 2026 | Updated: 17:13, 16 August 2026 A female prison psychologist who sent explicit photos of herself to an inmate she was treating has been allowed to return to work again after she was suspended for nine months. Lisa Forgione was conducting psychology sessions with the 'high-risk' unnamed prisoner at HMP Isle of Wight when they developed 'an emotional and/or romantic relationship' of a 'sexual nature' at some stage between October 2019 and July 2021, a tribunal heard.  In March 2021, a staff member at the prison reported to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Corruption Team that the inmate had made a comment about asking Ms Forgione on a date and claimed she had accepted his offer.  Four months later, another report alleged the prisoner had told his probation officer he was in a relationship with Ms Forgione and that she had been sending him greeting cards and romantic messages. On July 12, 2021 Ms Forgione was promoted to the role of registered psychologist in HMPPS and moved into the South Central Psychology team, with a base at HMP Winchester.  She then formally resigned from HMPPS on August 24, 2021 and her final date of employment was September 30, 2021. The Prison Service discovered that after her resignation, the inmate had instructed his grandmother and brother to contact her on his behalf.  The psychologist responded to both a Facebook message from the prisoner's grandmother and a call from his brother. Prison psychologist Lisa Forgione developed 'an emotional and/or romantic relationship' of a 'sexual nature' with the 'high-risk' unnamed prisoner at HMP Isle of Wight HMP Isle of Wight had already opened an investigation into the allegations of an improper relationship between the two before she resigned.  As part of their inquiries, Ms Forgione sent over written answers to a number of questions in which she denied ever being in a relationship with him or giving him the impression that she wanted to be.  Her answers were provided 24 days before her final day of employment. She was on sick leave for the entire last month of her employment. In her written response, she suggested the prisoner had lied about having a relationship with her to 'harm her' and said she thought these actions might be due to his 'personality difficulties'. She wrote: 'My guess is that this may be linked to his personality difficulties, which make it difficult for him to regulate his emotions and deal with perceived rejection and abandonment.  'This, combined with his own sense of victimisation and high levels of vengeful thinking, may have led him to behave in this way in an attempt to harm me and cause me distress for leaving him/my job and letting him down.' The investigation by HMPPS concluded that 'from a prison perspective it is likely that this relationship was fabricated' after finding no evidence to suggest they had been in contact in the way the prisoner claimed. The Prison Service treated the information as 'malicious' and the inmate was 'strongly recommended' to stop 'spreading these rumours'. In December 2021, off the back of a recommendation from Ms Forgione, the inmate was transferred to the Oswin Unit within the Secure Care at the Bamburgh Clinic in Newcastle upon Tyne.  The unit is designed for offenders who have personality disorders or are high-risk offenders with additional personality needs, which can sometimes result in difficulties with impulse control and relationships.  Offenders stay on the unit as in-patients during their treatment. When he arrived, he gave Ms Forgione as his next of kin, telling staff that they were together.  The unit contacted HMP Isle of Wight who said they were already aware of the concerns regarding an inappropriate relationship between the two.  Despite having denied they were in a relationship, Ms Forgione went on to spend hours speaking to him over the phone and on Skype calls between December 25, 2021 and February 15, 2022 while he was an inpatient at the unit. During one Skype session on February 4, 2022 she showed him pictures of herself in a bikini and topless with her arms across her chest.  She had used Moonpig to send him a Valentine's Day card the day before. In another Skype call on February 8, 2022 Ms Forgione showed the prisoner photographs of other men and asked him to rate them. That same day, she was contacted by The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in relation to concerns about her fitness to practise and a request for further information from her. She responded six days later. Later that month, the inmate was transferred to HMP Falkand where the pair continued to have contact.  On May 16, 2022 the pair spoke on a video call via an app called Purple Visits which allows prisoners to connect with their friends and family. The tribunal heard that during the call, the psychologist told the prisoner: 'You make me happy.  'I will miss your face. I'm seeing you in less that two weeks I'm really excited. I'm with you to the end.' They discussed which side of the bed they prefer to sleep on and Ms Forgione agreed to send him pictures of herself. At one point, the inmate asked his mental health practitioner about her 'peach'. She responded by standing up and showed her 'clothed buttocks'.  Just four days later, Ms Forgione wrote a letter to the HCPC in which she stated that she was not in a sexual, financial or emotional relationship with Service User A.  But 'this was not the case', the tribunal heard, as one month later she 'breached professional boundaries' after sending the inmate a birthday card which included photos of her wearing a bikini and in a topless state 'with an arm across her breasts'. The card shared intimate details of their relationship, in which Ms Forgione describes him as 'full of love' and said he 'makes life worth living'.  It read: 'Words are not enough to express my feelings for you. You make my life worth living.  'You bring smiles to my face even in my worst days and you always show me how much you love me and care for me.  'Even the darkest thoughts fade away when you smile at me. And when you look me in the eyes my world shines as bright as you.  'You are my best friend and my lover. I feel like the luckiest woman on Earth because I have the most wonderful man by my side.  'Thank you for being my rock. I hope your birthday is as beautiful and full of love as you are.  'You deserve only the best, and I only wish that for you. May life bring you everything you are dreaming about. 'Happy birthday bumbo mio… This is the first of many birthdays together. I'm sure we'll make it special together and we'll remember it forever for this reason. Always and forever, Lisa xxx.' An investigation was renewed and Ms Forgione was brought before a panel of the Health and Care Professionals Tribunal Service (HCPTS) which determined that she should be suspended for nine months for misconduct. However, a review panel at the HCPTS has decided that Ms Forgione can return to practice in October of this year. In February 2022, Service User A was transferred to HMP Frankland – a prison which houses prisoners such as Vickrum Digwa and Hashem Abedi. The misconduct panel concluded: 'In considering the requirement to maintain and uphold proper professional standards and public confidence in the profession, the panel was satisfied that the current suspension order was sufficient to mark the misconduct, to satisfy public confidence in the profession and its regulation. 'The panel considered that a member of the public aware of the full circumstances, and the work undertaken by (Ms Forgione), would have confidence that the regulatory process had worked.  'Accordingly, the panel was not able to find impairment on the public component. 'As the panel found that (Ms Forgione) is no longer impaired on either the personal or public component the current suspension order shall be allowed to lapse upon expiry on October 8 2026.'