Besotted prison officer who was thrown behind bars for smuggling £35,000 of drugs into jail for her gangster lover is flaunting her freedom on TikTok after early release

Published: 00:41, 15 April 2026 | Updated: 00:49, 15 April 2026 A besotted prison officer who had an illicit relationship with a jailed gangster is flaunting her freedom on TikTok - having served just eight months behind bars. Olivia Johnson, 28, was jailed for three-and-a-half years last July after attempting to smuggle £35,000-worth of the synthetic drug Spice into HMP Highpoint in Suffolk for her inmate lover. But after serving just a fraction of that sentence, Johnson was this month released from Askham Grange women’s prison near York and has wasted little time relaunching herself to her 43,000 TikTok followers. The shamed former officer has been sharing upbeat DIY videos from her new-build home in Catcliffe, South Yorkshire - including one in which she joked that her garden now looks 'balder than a man on a flight to Turkey for a hair transplant' after she was 'away in prison'. In another clip, she admitted she had been terrified to tell followers where she had been. Johnson said: 'Never felt so anxious posting a video in my life, but I decided that I just had to rip the bandage off and let everybody know where I've been because I cannot hide the fact and I'm not gonna let it define me. 'I was always one of those people before I went to prison that thought that it would never be me. 'But it has taught me a lot and the people and the girls that I've met along the way have honestly changed my life. Olivia Johnson, 28, served eight months of her three and a half year sentence for attempting to smuggle £35,000-worth of Spice into HMP Highpoint in Suffolk for her inmate lover in 2022 Johnson wasted no time in relaunching her life to her 43,000 TikTok followers on her release  '[It's] really opened my eyes to see what is important to me.' Johnson had worked at category-C HMP Highpoint for three years before she was stopped in a random spot check while arriving for work in September 2022. Staff found 88 sheets of paper which had been soaked in the Class B drug Spice. Ipswich Crown Court heard that Johnson had agreed to smuggle the contraband for south London gang member Javelle Taylor, who was serving a 12-year sentence for firearms offences. Messages recovered by detectives showed Johnson sending affectionate texts and declaring her love, alongside others discussing the smuggling operation. In one message, she wrote: 'I can’t figure out how I will get it through but I will figure it out.' In another, she said: 'I’ll message you as soon as I’m done at work so you know it’s where it needs to be.' Police also discovered that almost £15,000 had been paid into Johnson’s bank account over a nine-month period by contacts linked to Taylor, with whom she had formed an 'intimate relationship' Sentencing her last July, Recorder Richard Christie KC said her 'serious' crimes 'strike at the heart of the integrity of the criminal justice system' and ruled a deterrent sentence was necessary. Yet Johnson was released having served less than half of that sentence and is now portraying herself online as a changed woman, posting cheerful home and garden updates. In one video, she is seen weeding her patio and taming her overgrown garden. In another, Johnson tells how she has decided to repaint her pink hallway because 'it just wasn't my vibe anymore'. Referencing her time in prison in replies to followers, Johnson said: 'Everything is great, I had to do my time and I accepted it and I’m ready to get back to living life again.' She added that prison had been a 'tough 8 months' and said: 'It’s such a taboo topic but one I won’t let define me going forward.' In another comment, she wrote: 'It didn’t feel right to hide it, I deserved my time and it’s given me time to reflect and grow! Ready to start fresh with it all behind me.' She also admitted: 'I made stupid life decisions when I wasn’t in a great place in life. One I’m determined to move on from and live a better, healthier and happier life.' Johnson, who briefly worked as an estate agent after leaving the prison service, was said to have been in an 'emotionally-dependent' relationship with Taylor. At her sentencing hearing, her barrister insisted Johnson was remorseful and had found herself trapped. Jimmy Ogunshakin told the court: 'She stands before you today sorry, filled with regret and without excuse. 'She had lost her way somewhere along the line. 'I deserved my time and it’s given me time to reflect and grow! Ready to start fresh with it all behind me,' she said in one video Sentencing her last July, Recorder Richard Christie KC said her 'serious' crimes 'strike at the heart of the integrity of the criminal justice system' 'She felt in a male-dominated environment that there wasn't anyone to trust. It became very difficult for her to get out of it. She found herself trapped.' He added: 'This was a young woman aged 22, in her first job and she found herself in a sticky situation. 'Certainly she lost her way, and for that she is very, very sorry.' Passing sentence, Judge Christie said: 'In the pre-sentence report, the author records that although you say you committed these offences because you were in an intimate relationship with the prisoner, Javelle Taylor, that it is more likely that they were committed for financial gain. 'I take the view that it's a bit of both. Both financial gain and because you professed love for him. ' Last month, the Daily Mail revealed how a disgraced ex-police officer had turned to TikTok to document her time in jail. Former Greater Manchester Police constable Choni Kenny, 28, was caught on camera kissing her drug dealer lover while in uniform at Forest Bank prison in Salford. When they split, she embarked on a fling with another criminal associate and tipped him off about a planned police firearms raid. After being freed in January - having serve nine months of a near four-year sentence - Kenny has rebranded herself online as an 'ex-prisoner breaking the stigma' - while also plugging cosmetic treatments to clients. In one of her videos, Kenny remarkably described her prison routine as 'easy', telling followers: 'Three meals a day, roof over your head, nice warm bed, work nine till five, get paid every week.' 'You don't need more than 30-odd pounds a week. What more could you want? 'For me, it's more a case of maybe the life that you had before you went is what you miss and you thrive.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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