Fires and riot at Capricornia Correctional Centre near Rockhampton

A 16-hour siege at Capricornia Correctional Centre has come to an end after a prolonged protest which saw rioting and fires being lit by prisoners. But as of this morning, the prison remains in lockdown as investigations begin.

The behaviour of prisoners involved in Thursday’s 16 hour-siege at Rockhampton’s prison has been slammed as “simply disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.

The prolonged protest at Capricornia Correctional Centre came to an end about 2.30am on Friday, after hours of riots, fires, vandalism and threats to other prisoners.

A “total lockdown” remains in place at the prison as of 6am on Friday morning to allow for a clean up and investigation.

It has been confirmed prisoners were “chroming”, the act of sniffing petrol.

One prisoner remains at Rockhampton Hospital on Friday morning, receiving treatments from the effects of this.

Overnight prisoners gradually began coming down from the roof of the prison, where they were cornered by prison staff, including back up officers from the Maryborough Correctional Centre.

The unrest began at 10am on Thursday as prisoners began damaging property and threatening inmates and a code silver was declared.

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed at 6am on Friday morning that all prisoners involved in the protest were back in cells.

Deputy Commissioner Custodial Operations Gary McCahon and A/g Assistant Commissioner Northern and Central Command Darryll Fleming will be onsite at the centre Friday to debrief officers and inspect the damage caused by Thursday’s incident.

Mr McCahon praised responding officers, and thanked the public safety partners Queensland Police Service, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Health for their assistance and support during the incident.

“The behaviour seen yesterday was simply disgraceful,” Mr McCahon said.

“The wanton destruction of property and the risks to our officers and other prisoners was totally unacceptable behaviour.

“I am incredibly thankful that there are no reports of officer injury at this stage.

“Our officers and our public safety partners faced a very dangerous situation yesterday, and everyone did a remarkable job to resolve the situation.”

An investigation will now take place into the protest, led by the Corrective Services Investigation Unit who are travelling to the centre on Friday.

Prisoners who were involved in the riot and caused property damage will face criminal charges and internal discipline.

An injured prisoner was rushed to hospital on Thursday afternoon in an ambulance as the protest entered its seventh hour, around 3pm.

Queensland Corrective Services said it could not confirm if the prisoner was injured as a result of the unrest in the Rockhampton prison or if it was for medical reasons.

As of Thursday morning there were 703 prisoners incarcerated at the Rockhampton prison, at 92.7 per cent capacity.

It was thought late into the night they may have accessed a garden shed to gain weapons.

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed that as of about 8pm, prisoners were gradually surrendering.

By 9pm about 40 prisoners remained on the roof.

Commands and loud yelling could still be heard coming from the jail, with demands like “what about a shower, what about a TV” and you “dumb f***h***”.

The demands, which were heard as late as 10pm, seemed to be coming from a megaphone.

Dogs could also be heard barking, presumably the dog squad.

A siren was sounded at 9.30pm and another one about 10.15pm.

Smoke could also be seen coming from the main centre.

“Management of the incident has taken all of this into account when the surrender plan was developed,” QCS advised on Thursday night.

The Together union, which represents prison staff, advised the phones had been cut off.

QCS have stated no prisoners were held hostage in the events.

Staff from Maryborough Correctional Centre arrived to relieve other staff as the incident hit the nine-hour mark.

At around 6pm, there were more than 60 prisoners on the roof as they are have been blocked in by police and correction officers and have nowhere else to go.

Those who were not on the roofs were locked in their cells.

It was reported earlier there was substantial property damage to the prison and it has been confirmed at least one officer station had been destroyed.

The main centre of the prison went into lockdown around 10am when some prisoners began damaging property and threatening other prisoners.

A police barricade was set up and no vehicles, including delivery drivers and tradespeople, were allowed in.

All tradespeople on site for construction of the prison’s $241 million expansion were forced to leave site quickly

Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Queensland Police Service were called for back-up with multiple crews attending.

A number of ambulances, including critical care paramedics, attended the prison however it is understood they were on standby.

It also understood paramedics were treating “high risk prisoners” who didn’t receive their regular medical attention due to the lockdown.

About 1pm, a group of around 30 prisoners were contained by prison officers in a secure area of the centre and retreated onto the roof of an activities building.

There were also reports prisoners had hammers and were smashing cameras and some were armed with fire extinguishers and sticks.

It is possible tools have been left behind from the tradespeople as they had to leave quickly, or the prisoners gained access to them from the worksites.

It is understood the riot was in the ‘mainstream’ prison, with three units impacted.

“Emergency response plans have been activated, with the Tactical Response Team and the Delta Unit responding to the incident,” QCS said earlier on Thursday.

QCS also confirmed there were some small fires set during the riot, but all have been extinguished, and none of them were structural.

Smoke could be seen coming from the facility just before 2pm.

Michael Thomas from the Together Union said while he was still gathering information, it appeared to be a “very serious event”.

He said the catalyst for the riots could have been the overcrowding at the Rockhampton prison.

“It highlights not only the dangers in prison all the time but those dangers we experience with overcrowding,” he said.

“We are very concerned with the state of prisons at the moment.

“Capricornia has increased in size and that has meant a change up in the demographics population.”

Mr Thomas said prison staff were focused on getting the prison back up and running safely.

The incidents also impacted courts across the region, with video-link matters from the centre delayed in Mackay on Thursday morning and cancelled in Rockhampton in the afternoon.

The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny on the prison, with an external review of the facility underway.

Queensland Corrective Services announced to its staff on July 9 that an independent external review would take place into the workplace culture at the Etna Creek prison, after concerns were raised by prison staff and union leaders.

The last major riot reported at the prison was almost two years to the date, on October 30, 2019, when prisoners damaged the cameras in their cells, escaped and scaled the building and staked out on the roof for three hours.

One prisoner threatened officers with a length of wood and the prison was locked down for a number of hours. Two officers were injured.

Tensions has been building at the prison over the past 12 months, with reports in December 2020 that inmates were being kept in their cells longer than stipulated due to a guard shortage. There were also claims they were prevented from going outside or using the phones.

In February this year, whistleblowers claimed a prison officer shortage and in May, delays in the Parole Board assessing prisoner’s parole applications meant more than 1500 prisoners were being held in jail for longer.

Rockhampton lawyers were advised in May of a six month delay. There were also delays in mail from lawyers being delivered to their clients in the jail, but it is understood mail began to flow again after a Morning Bulletin story about the issue.