‘A safety wake-up call’: Three prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in five days at Yatala Labour Prison
A prisoner is recovering in hospital after being stabbed inside the state’s main prison – the third jail assault in five days.
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A prisoner is recovering in hospital after being stabbed inside the state’s main prison – the third jail assault in five days.
Eastern Adelaide CIB detectives are investigating the “serious” assault, believed to involve a makeshift knife, at Yatala Labour Prison, Northfield, in Adelaide’s north on Sunday afternoon.
As the prisoner recovered in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Sunday night, the union representing prison guards raised concerns about three prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in less than a week.
On Thursday, emergency services rushed to Yatala at 10.30am after a fight between prisoners, which emergency services were told involved weapons.
Staff who searched the units, at which each of the three assaults occurred, found drugs, weapons and other contraband.
The Public Service Association on Sunday warned the attacks were “a safety wake-up call” as a new political row erupted.
PSA SA general secretary Natasha Brown said more positions in prisons are “what is needed to curb the rising number of assaults”.
“Prisons are always a risky and dangerous environment to work in,” she said.
“However running our prisons without the necessary positions makes a hard job even harder.
“No worker should be going to work expecting to witness or be involved in an assault.”
Correctional services offices were assaulted almost five times more in 2019-20.
Regular weapon and drug searches occurred prior to job cuts, Ms Brown claimed.
“There simply aren’t the resources to maintain this level of security daily,” she said.
The PSA called on the Corrections Department to “meet urgently to discuss pragmatic solutions” and offer their members’ expertise.
A DCS spokeswoman denied the assault was a “reflection of inadequate staffing or resourcing”.
She said it was reported to police.
“The victim was treated by medical staff for his injuries,” the spokeswoman said.
“The department has a successful ongoing recruitment program and has recruited more correctional officers this financial year compared to last year.
“The Department takes its responsibility to engage with workplace representatives and the PSA very seriously and will meet with the union as a priority to understand further the concerns raised.”
Opposition spokesman Jack Batty said the latest incidents showed Labor had lost control of law and order.
“The new minister (Emily Bourke) needs to explain why we have seen a spike in violent prisoner assaults in Yatala since her appointment,” he said.
“She also needs to assure us that Corrections Officers are safe as this lawlessness descends on their workplace.”
Ms Bourke, who took over as Correctional Services minister in January, said the government was “stepping up efforts to stamp out offending” including a record number of searches and seizures last financial year.
“Body scan technology at Yatala Labour Prison, upgraded security systems and joint (SA Police) operations are deterring and detecting incidents amid a growing prisoner population.”
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Originally published as ‘A safety wake-up call’: Three prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in five days at Yatala Labour Prison
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