Corrections Confirms Assault On Prisoner

Corrections can confirm that a 34 year old male prisoner was assaulted by other adult prisoners while being transported to court. He was treated for facial injuries including abrasions and swelling by medical staff. An X-ray showed there were no broken bones.

There were a total of 13 prisoners in the van. The prisoner who was assaulted was grouped with four other similarly segregated prisoners in a compartment on their own. Also in the van was one female who was in a compartment on her own, one youth on his own, and a group of mainstream prisoners who were also grouped together, in a separate compartment from the segregated prisoners.

A segregated prisoner is not one who is isolated from all other prisoners at all times which would be neither practicable nor humane. The Corrections Act allows prison managers to make decisions about segregated prisoners associating with others in accommodation units at other times.

Our standard operating procedures for transporting prisoners requires prison managers to take into account all known risk factors and this was done in this case.

All standard operating procedures were followed by Chubb and the Department of Corrections.

A number of significant changes have been implemented to standard operating procedures in light of the Liam Ashley tragedy last year. This includes the range of information that is taken into account before vehicle loading decisions are made. The Department is due to report back to the Minister on transportation options by the end of the month and the Ombudsmen's Own Motion Review is expected to be completed shortly.

Assistant General Manager Operations Bryan McMurray
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