I'M NO CRIMINAL

She was held for 29 days in appalling conditions and accused of working with one of the country’s most notorious criminals. After all this, all charges against Nastassja, a former prison guard, were withdrawn

-  ISABEL VENTER & MEGHAN LAWRENCE

HER face was plastered across newspapers and TV screens alongside the image of one of the most notorious criminals South Africa has ever seen.

Her main "crime" was helping convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester walk out of prison and she was arrested and locked up for 29 days before being granted bail.

Although the charges have been dropped, having her name cleared hasn't dispelled the cloud hanging over Nastassja Jansen's head.

She's lost friends and family and she can't go out in public without strangers whispering about her involvement in Beer's brazen escape. Her inbox is flooded with messages from people who believe she's guilty and her children have been bullied. She also lost her job.

"It was a painful, humiliating experience for me," Nastassja (35) tells YOU.

"It was humiliating because all these years you look after criminals and here you are treated as a criminal. Every time you're taken to and from court, you're escorted by the flying squad as if you were a hardened criminal"

Nastassja was employed by G4S, a private security company responsible for the management of Bloemfontein's Mangaung Prison when Bester launched his escape last year.

She worked in the security control room of the prison and was accused of opening the electronic gates Bester was alleged to have slipped out of.

In May after it all came to light, she was charged with aiding and abetting his escape and released on R10 000 bail.

The National Prosecuting Authority recently withdrew the charges against her but Nastassja says everything has changed and she's still trying to process the events of the past few months.

She barely knew Bester and didn't have anything to do with his escape, she maintains. "I started working at the prison in 2013, but in that time I probably saw Thabo Bester only twice in total.