BOBBY Cunningham had always promised himself and his partner that he would get the back garden sorted out before their baby arrived.
The head of security at HMP Wandsworth in London, he was responsible for law, order and fighting corruption at Britain’s most notorious prison — yet finances were tight.
Bobby Cunningham, 43, has resigned from the force
Cunningham’s father, Kevin, is also a former police officer
In June 2022, Cunningham, 43, the son of a former prison officer, called a landscaping company to his home on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
Yet Payless Artificial Grass Limited was no ordinary firm – it was run by organised crime.
An official at one of Britain’s top prisons had been compromised.
The firm’s director was Ben Sullivan, a gangster from Sheppey. In December last year, he was arrested at Stansted en route to Dubai.
Police said he pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine.
Cunningham also met a business associate of Sullivan – who cannot be named for legal reasons – and discussed his “uncle” Alexander McGuiffie who was a prisoner at Wandsworth.
McGuffie was described in confidential Ministry of Justice documents as a “known corruptor” with “serious influence, intent and capability” who was said to have offered prison officers cash.
At the time, McGuiffie was awaiting trial for 11 charges including supplying cocaine, ordering ammunition for a firearm, stealing investigative documents from an undercover police officer’s vehicle and perverting the course of justice.
Security chief Cunningham was responsible for countering corruption – yet never disclosed the relationship with the gangsters to his superiors.
He was later allowed to leave the prison service on medical grounds after an investigation into his conduct.
A Sunday Times report has now revealed the full extent of Cunningham’s dealings with organised crime – and the prison system’s failure to hold him to account.
The saga began in June 2022 when Payless was hired to put down artificial grass at Cunnigham’s home. His partner later posted pictures of a garden with a patio on social media, thanking the firm.
It was around this time that Payless director Sullivan, and his associate, who we are calling X, were under police investigation by cops looking at evidence they were involved in importing and selling cocaine.
When Cunningham met X at his property around the time the work was ongoing, they discussed Wandsworth inmate McGuffie, 49, who was awaiting trial for offences including stealing an undercover officer’s BMW.
An alleged organised criminal, he had previously been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in smuggling £120,000 of cocaine into the country, only to have his conviction quashed after four years due to a prosecutorial failing.
The Crown had omitted to mention that some of the detectives who investigated him had been criticised over their recording of evidence in a separate case.
Although he was released, the National Crime Agency stayed on his tail.
In 2022 he was extradited from Spain to Wandsworth pending trial.
The authorities deemed him so dangerous they repeatedly raided his cell during his time in custody and at one point moved him to HMP Belmarsh, a higher security prison.
Yet shortly before his trial, the prosecution fell apart again due to legal problems the Crown would not divulge when contacted for comment.
Earlier this year, he was set free again and went back to Spain where in the eyes of the law remains an innocent man.
Ben Sullivan, a gangster from Sheppey, pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine
Cunningham pictured with Rory Stewart, former Minister of State for Prisons
The Sunday Times found that by the spring of 2023, the counter-corruption unit of HM Prisons Service had received intelligence from forces including the National Crime Agency and Kent Police about Cunningham.
The unit discovered details of his dealings with alleged criminals and found he had not disclosed two investigations in which he was involved — and which “could have been exploited by organised criminals”.
It also learnt he had been buying offensive weapons which, if prosecuted, could have seen him jailed for four years.
The early transferring of inmates to open prisons
More troubling, prison officers had filed a number of “corruption prevention intelligence reports” — a formal whistleblowing document — about the transfer of inmates to lower-security jails under Cunningham’s watch.
One of those given a surprisingly early transfer to an open prison by Cunningham was Michael Nascimento.
By the summer of 2023, Nascimento, 48, had spent half a decade in prison after the former financial professional was jailed for 13 years for defrauding 170 people of millions of pounds.
Among them a woman who was “bullied” into parting with her life savings while her mother battled cancer.
He ran a firm which cold-called elderly, vulnerable victims promising them massive returns on property in Madeira, but used the cash to fund a lavish lifestyle — including Arsenal tickets and private school fees.
A judge had handed him four more years in jail in January 2023 due to his refusal to liquidate overseas assets, denying his victims long-awaited compensation.
On July 24, 2023, was told he was to be transferred to HMP Kirkham, a category D or “open” prison in a village in Lancashire, where some inmates are allowed days away from jail and have access to a gym, football pitch and cafe.
Earlier that year, when Nascimento’s conditions were examined as part of a routine annual review, his chances of being transferred appeared to be zero.
Yet Cunningham authorised his departure.
The prison counter-corruption unit became involved and, after an investigation, wanted to suspend Cunningham.
Approval was needed from Sarah Coccia, now chief operating officer of the prisons system.
A fellow resident of the Isle of Sheppey, she and her husband had worked with Cunningham’s father.
According to sources, when colleagues asked her to approve Cunningham’s suspension, she said that he came from a “good family” and “his dad’s a good guy”.
Ian Bickers, the then head of London prisons who was privy to the conversation, recalls: “Sarah questioned whether the evidence was sufficient to proceed to suspension and the likelihood of securing a criminal conviction.”
Coccia ultimately agreed to place Cunningham on leave.
MoJ sources say she did not have a close relationship with his family and it was her job to query such decisions.
Resignation on medical grounds
Soon after, the governor of HMP Wandsworth allowed Cunningham to resign on medical grounds caused by a “bad back” and the stress of being suspended.
She then signed off a compensation award, allowing him to receive two lots of his annual salary — of about £80,000 — as a lump sum subject to tax.
Although Cunningham was eventually found guilty of misconduct, he was never referred to police for potential offences .
An internal investigation into the prisoner transfers he oversaw was partial and never completed.
Cunningham has a meteoric rise through the ranks after following in the footsteps of his dad and brother by joining the prison service.
As a guard, his inappropriately chummy manner with prisoners earned him the nickname “Fun Time Bobbie.”
In Cunningham’s twenties, at HMP Cookham Wood, he was allegedly overheard asking a colleague to assault a young inmate by engaging in a deliberately forceful act of “restraint”.
He was suspended and the matter investigated — but kept his job.
In 2015, he apparently had another brush with the law when HMRC intercepted an online delivery of nunchucks, a martial arts weapon. They confiscated them, but did not take further action.
Yet aged 28, he was pictured with Rory Stewart, who was prisons minister, at the Prison Officer of the Year awards.
In 2021, aged 31, he was appointed head of security, joining the leadership team at Wandsworth despite no specialist training.
Rachel Lees, a since-retired prison officer who worked under Cunningham in the security team, recalled he seemed “an extremely unserious man for such a trusted role”.
She said that, under his watch intelligence was “not acted on, cells were not being searched and even large drug finds were not able to be written up, as trained security staff were being sent instead to facilitate exercise on the yard”.
In early 2023, Cunningham was promoted to deputy governor alongside his other duties – despite not yet passing the relevant exams.
Under Cunningham’s watch, a number of serious offenders at Wandsworth had their status reviewed months early and were transferred to an open prison, including Nascimento.
Questions over Cunningham’s personal life
There were also serious questions about Cunnigham’s personal life.
Police were called out to his property following a “domestic” incident in 2019 and his ex-partner was involved in a fraud investigation which saw her arrested in 3032.
Although there was “no further action” taken against the girlfriend, detectives searched Cunningham’s property, where they found what appeared to be stolen goods.
He had disclosed neither police matter to his superiors either at the time.
In addition, Cunningham was having an affair with the manager of the intelligence hub at HMP Wandsworth, which triaged reports of crime within the prison.
In her role, Lucy Edwards sat with the anti-corruption team. There is no suggestion she has any links to criminals.
When Cunningham was suspended in late July 2023, his sudden disappearance fuelled speculation.
Many staff suspected he had “sold” transfers to prisoners. Inmates were heard saying “no one’s getting D Cat now Bobby’s gone”.
In September 2023, an inquiry concluded Cunningham was guilty of four breaches and was found to have “acted unprofessionally”. His severance package was terminated.
The following month, a tandem investigation found that the transfers of five prisoners “warrant further checking” .
Yet checks did not take place.
The review was also limited to transfers between August 1 and 31, 2023, only covering part of Cunninghan’s tenure at Wandsworth. Its authors said many files had security restrictions attached.
Today, Cunningham and Edwards are a couple and run a property firm and scaffolding company.
A Prison Service spokesman said the vast majority of prison staff are “hard working and honest” adding: “ Where any member of staff falls below our high standards, we do not hesitate to take robust action.”
MoJ sources say the investigations conducted did not reveal evidence of criminality.
Cunningham did not respond. Sullivan, in prison, could not be reached but he is understood to be challenging the police’s findings about his role in an organised crime group.
McGuffie, now in Spain having had all charges against him dropped, is understood to believe he was a victim of police corruption. He declined to comment but a source said he had only just met ‘X’ recently – and never asked either man to do anything on his behalf.
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