Barwon Prison’s Hoya Unit moved to Western Plains due to heating replacement

A Barwon Prison unit housing some of Victoria’s most sadistic inmates has been shifted to a vacant facility after another maintenance issue.

Barwon Prison’s notorious Hoya Unit has been moved to Western Plains after a heating fault.

A unit housing some of Victoria’s most sadistic inmates, including child killers and rapists, has been shifted to another prison in the latest of a string of safety issues affecting the maximum security complex.

It’s understood the 41-strong Hoya Unit inside Barwon Prison were transferred to the Western Plains facility due to a wide-scale heating replacement.

They have been temporarily held at the enormous jail for at least five days.

The prisoners have been transferred to the Western Plains Correctional Centre. Picture: Alison Wynd

The prisoners, who are protected from mainstream inmates for fear they’ll be attacked, will not be taken back to Barwon until a new heating system is fitted.

The new $1 billion Western Plains centre, also in Lara, is expected to permanently open next month and start taking prisoners from Port Phillip Prison.

It has been sitting vacant for more than two years after it was built.

Barwon Prison’s Hoya unit is home to many infamous and heinous criminals including serial killer Peter Dupas, murderer and rapist Adrian Bailey and multiple child killer Robert Farquharson.

Serial killer Peter Dupas is housed in the protection unit.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman confirmed the unit had been transferred to allow for a heating unit to be replaced “as part of planned maintenance.”

“This is a precautionary decision and not at all connected to investigations into another unit at the prison,” she said.

“The prisoners are expected to return to Barwon Prison in the coming days.”

Moving the prisoners comes after at least 25 inmates from the Olearia unit were shifted from Barwon to Western Plains last month after a potential gas leak.

Twenty of them are yet to return.

Child killer Robert Farquharson.

The incident forced two corrections officers off work with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

At least five work cover claims have been filed by Barwon staff in the wake of the suspected leak first discovered almost two months ago.

WorkSafe is investigating.

It’s still unclear whether the issue has been fixed.

Western Plains will start taking prisoners from Port Phillip Prison, the state’s largest, in July. Picture: Alison Wynd

Workers in the unit allegedly began to report symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning in early April, with paramedics called to the scene on multiple occasions.

A spokesman from the Community and Public Sector Union confirmed a number of its members were impacted.

“We are pursuing their rights through work cover,” he said.

Western Plains, which has 1248 beds, will begin housing some of state’s worst offenders from July.

A total of 61 Barwon inmates remain temporarily at the site.

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Originally published as Barwon Prison’s Hoya Unit moved to Western Plains due to heating replacement