A woman prison officer killed herself after being sacked for watching a Rugby World Cup match while recovering from a cancer scare, an inquest has heard. Janet Norridge, 34, was spotted in the crowd at a live TV screening of the semi-final match between Wales and France at the Millennium Stadium in 2011.
She was on sick leave at the time and one of her colleagues reported her to the prison governors. She was suspended from work and was found hanging after losing an appeal. An inquest heard Ms Norridge's grieving parents later took the prison authorities to an employment tribunal and won.
A coroner is writing to the director of Her Majesty's Prison Service demanding a review of the way officers are treated during disciplinary proceedings. Ambitious and 'highly capable' Ms Norridge had dreams of becoming a prison governor but was hit by a health scare while working at Cardiff jail.
A relative died of bowel cancer and Ms Norridge tested positive for a gene which gave her an 80 per cent chance of being diagnosed with the same disease. The inquest was told she went to the doctor and was given three weeks off work to come to terms with the shock.
While on leave Ms Norridge went out with friends to see the screening in Cardiff of a match being played at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand on October 15, 2011, which Wales went on to lose 9-8. Her close friend Rebecca Rolls told the hearing: 'One of her colleagues saw her there and reported her to the prison.
'She was interviewed by her employers who charged her with misconduct. 'This destroyed Janet. she was so proud of her job and her profession.' The inquest heard Ms Norridge, who was single, became suicidal and was found hanging in the cellar of her flat in Newport, South Wales, after a night out with friends on 6 April 2012.
Her mother Joanne said: 'She had sorted out her personal effects and we found forms she had started to fill in to take the prison service to an employment tribunal.
'My husband and I, as her next of kin, decided to fight the matter on her behalf.
'My daughter was right in her feeling that she was unfairly dismissed.'
Mother-of-two Mrs Norridge, of Oxford, said her daughter suffered 'unbelievable cruelty' by the prison authorities and some of the evidence against her 'read like a work of fiction.' The inquest heard Ms Norridge became suicidal and was found hanging in the cellar of her flat in Newport, South Wales, after a night out with friends
Mrs Norridge said: 'She had ambitions to be a senior prison officer and her goal was to work her way up to be governor. 'She was highly capable and intelligent, she didn't want anything to hamper her promotion prospects.'
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