Tear gas deployed after inmate injured during prison’s 72-hour strike

Tear gas was deployed after a man was stabbed at a Sydney prison notorious for its staffing issues – all while officers were on a 72-hour strike.

An inmate at a Sydney jail notorious for understaffing and violent assaults has been allegedly stabbed by another prisoner, in an incident which required guards to use tear gas to control the situation.

The horrific act allegedly occurred while more than 150 staff from the Parklea Correctional Facility went on a 72-hour strike at 6am Wednesday, over fears for their safety due to understaffing.

Officers from Riverstone Police Area Command were called to the jail at about 11.30am after reports of an affray and were told up to “eight inmates – armed with weapons – were involved in an altercation before corrective services staff intervened,” NSW Police say.

Police say a 27-year-old and a 31-year-old man were injured, and the 31-year-old was taken to hospital for treatment. It’s understood he is in a stable condition.

As it stands, no charges have been laid.

A source from the prison told NCA NewsWire that “no more than 50 officers” would have been on duty at the time of the incident.

The prison source also questioned the use of tear gas to control the incident.

“To have gas deployed to quell the situation, that shouldn’t have happened,” they said.

The prison oversees about 1100 inmates, including maximum security prisoners and men awaiting remand, and has the state’s worst rates for serious assaults, with officers complaining of weekly fights and attacks on guards.

The inmate was taken to hospital and is in a stable condition, police say. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

A spokesperson from MTC Australia - a US multinational company that operates the private jail - said the altercation occured between four inmates and the prison’s specialist Incident Response Team and more than a dozen other officers responded to the incident. They say the incident was resolved in five minutes.

“One inmate sustained a cut finger. The inmate was treated by on-site medical staff and was taken to hospital for further treatment,” they said.

“A number of inmates were placed in segregation as a result of the incident.”

MTC also said that despite the industrial action, “the usual number of officers reported to work in the area where the incident happened”.

“MTC Australia has a contingency plan in place to ensure the prison can continue to operate safely and securely during the industrial action and today’s incident demonstrates we can respond to incidents appropriately,” they said.

Parklea Correctional Facility has one of the worst rates of violent incidents among inmates and attacks on staff. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Parklea officer Cliff Caddy estimated that six violent incidents had occurred in the month of February alone, including a prisoner’s alleged attempt to strangle a guard.

Two officers were involved the incident, with one suffering facial injuries. Police are still investigating the incident.

“The inmate tried to push away and he strangled one of the officers until another officer came. That was a weekend, when the staffing is under a third of a normal day,” Mr Caddy said.

Another prison officer, Paul, who was allegedly assaulted by a prisoner in November last year, said the violent incidents were a result of reduced staffing, which could drop to 36 rostered officers on a weekend.

“(It gives them) more opportunity to play up, or move contraband,” he said.

Community and Public Sector Union general secretary Stewart Little said prison staff at Parklea were some of the lowest paid in the state and said poor wages have caused an exodus of officers seeking better pay at state-owned facilities.

Without weekend, or evening loading, or overtime entitlements, Mr Little said Parklea officers earned $50,000 less than their government counterparts, who could earn up to $120,000.

“MTC are paying 25 per cent less than the public sector and they think people are just going to go in there in a difficult dangerous facility like Parklea,” said Mr Little.

Originally published as Tear gas deployed after inmate injured during prison’s 72-hour strike