Grade
Wing Governor

Background
Joined the WRAF aged seventeen and qualified there as a state registered nurse. From there she joined a London hospital but then left to join the Prison Service. She is a divorcee with a grown-up son, Ross.

Profile
Karen is a self-made, working-class woman. She seized every opportunity the Prison Service offered and discovered a latent ambition in herself. Karen’s great advantage as a Wing Governor is that she came up through the ranks. She’s comfortable dealing with even the most dangerous inmates and is all too aware of the shortcomings of several of her colleagues. She has absolutely no patience with the old-style union culture of the POA—Hollamby beware!—but unlike her predecessor, Helen Stewart, she tempers her reformist zeal with pragmatism. Although fair, she’s also very firm and never suffers fools gladly. It’s just a shame that the same rules don’t apply to her personal life—her weakness for complete bastards like Jim Fenner and Ritchie Atkins ultimately proved to be her downfall.

Last Seen
After being dragged off G-Wing by the police and falsely arrested for causing death by dangerous driving (s5ep13), she returned in triumph to prove that it was actually Fenner who did the deed (s6ep12).