Maximum security Parklea jail in lockdown after two dozen inmates riot
Maximum security Parklea jail is in lockdown after a riot between two dozen inmates. Tensions at the privately run facility have been high since all social visits were banned under coronavirus restrictions.
NSW
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The state’s privately-operated maximum security Parklea jail is in lockdown after riot officers used tear gas to stop a fight in the yard between two dozen inmates.
No prisoners in the state have yet been diagnosed with coronavirus but tensions have been rising because of the crackdown on family visits while some solicitors have been inundated by clients on bail behind bars wanting to make applications to go home.
A source said the prisoners’ supply of drugs was also drying up.
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“They are missing their families and the drugs are drying up,” the source said.
A spokesman for MTC-Broadspectrum, which now runs Parklea, said some inmates were injured in the riot that broke out on Friday afternoon and were receiving medical treatment.
The prisoners damaged one of the maximum-security internal fences.
“No staff were injured during the incident and we comment responding staff for their effective action,” the spokesman said.
They said that COVID-19 had nothing to do with the riot and investigations were continuing.