Capricornia Correctional Centre riots: No criminal charges laid two weeks on

The 16-hour riot at the prison north of Rockhampton has been described as the worst in decades, but two weeks on no criminal charges have been laid and the Corrective Services Minister has not visited.

It has been two weeks since up to 70 prisoners were involved in an explosive riot that lasted 16-hours at Capricornia Correctional Centre and no criminal charges have been laid, nor has Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan visited the Rockhampton prison.

The events that occurred at the prison have been described by the union and Queensland Corrective Services senior management as the worst in the state in decades, yet prison staff feel the saga has been downplayed by the department.

The unrest began around 9am on Thursday October 21 and came to an end around 2.30am the following morning.

The events of the riot, protest, fires and property damage caused by tools taken from the garden shed left a trail of destruction across the prison which was in the midst of a $241 million expansion.

Capricornia Correctional Centre general manager Chief Superintendent Richard Butcher made comments the day after the riots that the ringleader prisoners who played major roles in the events would be moved to other prisons around the state.

Mr Butcher also advised prisoners involved could be subject to criminal charges and internal discipline.

“There will be a thorough investigation into it and learning points,” he said on October 22.

“The department will be engaged in the disclosure of that investigation and the findings.”

QCS was contacted by this publication this week and asked if any prisoners had been moved yet.

The department did not respond to the question but advised it was an “ongoing criminal investigation”.

The prison remained in lockdown in the days after the riots as police and the Corrective Services Investigation Unit analysed and studied evidence from the scenes.

This publication also asked if the investigation would be made public and QCS advised “there is no visibility of time frames” and deferred questions related to the investigation to Queensland Police Service.

Police advised on November 2 there were no charges or an update at this time and the investigation remained ongoing.

Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan was in Rockhampton and Gladstone the day before the riots broke out, visiting fire stations as part of his fire and emergency services portfolio, but has failed to address the situation in the aftermath or visit the prison - a move which has angered prison insiders.

“If we took to their office with a Molotov cocktail we would be in the watchhouse before the fire was out,” one prison insider said.

They claimed if the same riots occurred in Brisbane or the Gold Coast, Minister Ryan would be all over the media.

A formal statement around the incident has also not been released by the Minister to date.

This publication sent a request for comment to Mr Ryan’s office, asking why he hasn’t visited the Rockhampton prison to see the damage or speak with staff.

A response was received on behalf of Acting Minister Mark Furner, with many of the questions unanswered.

“Any incident that affects the safety and security of any correctional facility anywhere in Queensland is taken extremely seriously,” he said.

“That’s why the government introduced legislation so that attacks on custodial staff can result in an additional 14 years imprisonment for the offender.

“Queensland Corrective Services has commended the officers involved in the Capricornia incident for their swift and professional response to what occurred.

“Investigations into these matters are ongoing including the prospect of further charges being laid against individuals who were involved.”

Corrective Services Shadow Minister Dale Last has criticised Mr Ryan and the current Labor government over the incident.

“Firstly, my thoughts are with the prison officers who are currently dealing with this situation,” he said.

“I sincerely hope that there are no injuries and that their safety is restored as soon as possible.”

There are claims the incident broke out due to overcrowding, however this has been denied by QCS that states the centre was at 92.7 per cent capacity with 703 prisoners on the day of the riots.

“The Capricornia Correctional Centre itself has had faced many challenges in the past few years including a lack of staff,” Mr Last said.

“That’s no wonder when you have a government that, statewide, has cut new staff numbers by 86 per cent compared to last year.

“There have been staffing issues at this centre for quite some time and the Minister needs to assure staff and the wider community that these issues have been resolved.

“Corrections centre staff have faced extra demands due to COVID-19 and, instead of supporting them, the government has cut staff increases and stood by while staff safety has been put at risk.”