Parklea Correctional Centre prison officer stabbed by inmate

A PRISON officer has been stabbed at a scandal-wracked privately-run Sydney jail, but his name tag potentially saved his life.

A name tag saved a prison officer who was stabbed by an inmate.

A PRISON officer has been stabbed at the scandal-wracked privately-run Parklea Correctional Centre.

The officer was taken to hospital after being stabbed twice, with only his name tag preventing a potentially fatal wound to the chest, Public Service Association General Secretary Troy Wright said this morning.

Corrective Services have confirmed that the homemade weapon first hit the officer’s dentification card and then hit his arm in the attack at 3pm on Wednesday.

The attack comes in the wake of a Parklea inmate filming a video and posting it on YouTube.

The 29-year-old inmate then incited fellow prisoners who refused to return to their cells as the prison’s armed Security Support Team deployed gas and locked down the common area.

The attack comes in the wake of a Parklea inmate filming a video in his maximum-security cell flaunting a knife and boasting of having drugs and posting it on YouTube in July.

It is another black mark for the prison’s private operators GEO, whose contract is already under review.

“This is just another shocking example of the prison’s private operators GEO not being able to run this centre safely and effectively,” Mr Wright said.

Prisons minister David Elliott said in July that GEO, which also runs Junee Correctional Centre, could face penalties over the YouTube debacle.

An elite team was ordered at the time to take over the jail if needed as part of a of a four-week crisis review.

The stabbing is the latest drama to hit Parklea Correctional Centre.

“Prison officers go to work each day in the most dangerous environment in the country, if not the world. It’s a miracle that this incident didn’t result in more serious injury,” Nicole Jess, chair of the PSA’s Prison Officers Vocational Branch, said.

“The Government must ... immediately return Parklea to the public prison system,” Mr Wright said.

“Society can’t afford to privatise prisons.”

A spokesman for Corrective Services said the 29-year-old had been placed in segregation as police investigate and charges are pending.

“Following instructions from centre management all inmates complied and returned to their cells,” the spokeswoman said.

“The officer was taken to hospital as a precaution and has been discharged.

NSW Police have been notified.”