THE case of a prisoner accused of taking a phone, a phone charger and a screwdriver into HMP Berwyn has been committed to Mold Crown Court.

John James McGee is also said to have struck up a sexual relationship with prison officer Emily Watson, who faces a charge of misconduct in public office at the Wrexham jail.

Her case has already been sent to the crown court.

McGee, 30, was due to appear in front of Wrexham magistrates via a video link hearing after refusing to appear on March 13.

But prosecutor Helen Hall told the court that McGee would not be appearing again as he had refused to travel "in the van" to Preston prison for the video link.

He faces charges of possessing a mobile phone and a phone charger, both prohibited items, while he was an inmate at Berwyn on January 30 last year.

McGee is also charged with a third offence of possessing an offensive weapon in the prison on the same date.

He had been sentenced to an eight-year prison sentence at Warwick Crown Court for causing death by dangerous driving.

The hit-and-run collision left a man and his dog dead in Walton, Merseyside, in 2015.

He is now at HMP Lancaster Farms in Lancashire, but during his time at Berwyn it is alleged he and prison officer Emily Watson had an intimate affair.

Watson, 26, of Jerusalem Road, Linthwaite, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, faces a charge of wilfully abusing public trust by engaging in an intimate relationship between October 31, 2017 and January 31 last year.

She is due for a hearing at Mold on April 12.