Three prisoners tunnelled under fence and hot-wired truck before being discovered by jail officers at Port Augusta Prison
THREE inmates attempting to break out of Port Augusta Prison were able to tunnel under a fence and hot-wire a truck before they were discovered by authorities, it has been revealed.
THREE inmates attempting to break out of Port Augusta Prison were able to tunnel under a fence and hot-wire a truck before they were discovered by authorities, it has been revealed.
The prisoners, at least two of whom are considered “extremely dangerous,” then armed themselves with crude weapons during a stand-off with prison officers that lasted almost five hours on Tuesday, September 20.
The Opposition released details on the attempted jailbreak on Monday and demanded Correctional Services Minister Peter Malinauskas explain how the inmates were able to come so close to escaping.
Opposition correctional services spokesman Dan van Holst Pellekaan said that at 8pm last Tuesday two “extremely dangerous” prisoners dug under a temporary construction fence into a prohibited area and hot-wired a truck that they intended to ram through the jail’s perimeter fence to escape.
He said after they were discovered, the inmates held prison officers at bay using crude weapons until they were taken back into custody at 1am Wednesday morning.
The State Government has confirmed an incident occurred but said three prisoners were involved.
Details on the inmates and the crimes they committed have not been released but it is understood at least two have been convicted of serious and violent crimes and were serving lengthy jail terms.
Mr van Holst Pellekaan said the government should inform the public when security breaches occurred at prisons.
“Minister Malinauskas must explain how two dangerous criminals got so close to escaping and why he has not issued a public statement about this serious breach of prison security,” he said.
”In my mind, this is not about prison officers not doing their job properly, it’s about overcrowding.”
He said jails had been operating over capacity since 2013 and chronic overcrowding had been putting unfair pressure on prison officers, increasing the likelihood of incidents within jails.
Mr van Holst Pellekaan said three “prisoner on prisoner” assaults occurred at Port Augusta Prison last week and that was also indicative of problems with overcrowding.
A Correctional Services spokesman referred The Advertiser’s request for comment to Mr Malinauskas.
Mr Malinauskas said Port Augusta correctional officers “brought the (attempted jailbreak) under control safely and in accordance with departmental procedures”.
He said officers were trained to handle incidents of this nature.
“It is due to this training and adherence to strict processes that the incident in Port Augusta was contained within the secure perimeter of the prison and at no time was there any risk to community safety,” Mr Malinauskas said.
