Long Bay jail gatehouse guard sacked for sleeping on the job

EXCLUSIVE: Another Long Bay prison officer has been found asleep on the job, with the guard fired after he was found snoozing through night shift in a do-it-yourself “chair bed”.

Correctional Officer trainees gather at Long Bay Jail for a search training session. Picture: Tim Hunter

• Murderer nearly escapes due to dozy guard

TWO more Long Bay prison officers have been found asleep on the job, with one guard fired after he was found snoozing through night shift in a do-it-yourself “chair bed”.

Two weeks after The Sunday Telegraph revealed an officer guarding notorious inmate Neddy Smith fell asleep while guarding Smith in hospital, another guard was found asleep in the jail gatehouse and another guard crawled into a bed next to a prisoner in hospital.

In a case the Department of Corrective Services has ­described as “serious misconduct”, an officer in charge of keeping watch in the Long Bay prison gatehouse was observed on CCTV lying down on a makeshift bed made from two chairs pulled together.

S. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Of more concern, a prison source alleged the officer, who was the sole watchperson in the gatehouse at night, had placed the gun he was meant to be carrying while on duty into a drawer as he slept.

The source said the surveillance showed the officer asleep over two nights, with the department sacking him after an investigation.

In a separate incident, a prison source said ­another casual officer who was charged with supervising an inmate undergoing medical treatment at Prince of Wales (PoW) Hospital was also found asleep while on duty.

IN OTHER NEWS: PRISONER ‘TRAUMATISED’

The Department said the officer was found in a hospital bed by a nurse and an investigation was underway. A source said the guard, a part-time truck driver, had claimed he was tired. Department Assistant Commissioner James Koulouris said staff ­misconduct was taken seriously, adding that one custodial officer had been terminated.

Two weeks ago we reported how Neddy Smith almost escaped PoW Hospital when one guard fell asleep and another was busy using a laptop.

His escape was foiled by nurses.