Parklea prison YouTube inmate Carl Walton plays victim after footage of him wielding blade, with the drug ice

EXCLUSIVE: The inmate who exposed a world of drugs and weapons behind bars at Parklea has been called “brave” and a “legend” by his parents. The ex-Bandidos bikie claims prison had “ruined” him.

• Video shows inmate with knife and the drug ice in Parklea jail
• Governor to review security at Parklea Correction Centre

THE ex-con whose jail cell YouTube video sent the NSW prison system into meltdown claims he did it to raise the alarm after becoming addicted to drugs behind bars.

Career criminal Carl Walton, a former Bandido bikie whose first run-in with the law was at the age of 15, yesterday said he “had grown up through the system and it ­ruined my life”.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Walton, who managed to film a knife, “slasher” razor and what he said was a bag of the drug ice on a mobile phone inside Parklea Correctional Centre, was arrested on the NSW south coast on Tuesday.

Former bikie and Parklea inmate Carl Walton with girlfriend Laura.

The 32-year-old, who was released on parole three weeks ago following a two-year, six-month sentence for damaging property, driving while disqualified and resisting arrest, said he did not ­expect the clip to go viral.

“I turned on my email ­account and everyone was messaging me about it,” he said. “The young ones inside might thank me for it but the ones on long sentences won’t — I’ve messed up the system in there for them.”

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In the video he claimed corrupt prison officers smuggled in mobile phones for money.

“Jail messes people up. I never used to touch drugs until jail, when I went in I got on this and I got on that. I couldn’t escape it,” Walton told The Daily Telegraph.

Walton’s video featured talk about drug use inside and even alleges inmates are provided with drugs by guards.

In a video uploaded to YouTube, the inmate can be seen with a knife.

Following the discovery of the video, Corrective Services officers raided several cells in Parklea jail and found contraband.

Walton was arrested by ­officers from the NSW Police Force’s Corrective Services Investigation Unit on Tuesday and was released pending further inquiries, which could involve him being charged with having a mobile phone in his possession in jail — carrying a maximum penalty of two years’ jail and a $5500 fine.

Once a promising rugby league player, Walton said he was now desperate to get a job and turn his life around as Facebook posts show him in the arms of his glamorous girlfriend Laura.

“I’ve grown up through the system and it ruined my life. I met someone special and I want to do good by her,” Walton said.

“I went back in for driving and she’s stood by me.

“I’ve got a job interview in three days as a cement tenderer and I want to get it.”

His younger brother Aaron Walton, also a former Bandido, is also currently back in jail where he has been stabbed, he said.

The shocking footage showed a host of illegal activities going on behind bars.

Warning about the use of illegal weapons was another reason he made the video in August last year in a maximum security cell at Parklea, he said.

As prisons boss Peter ­Severin sends in a crack team to investigate the shocking ­security lapse at Parklea which allowed Walton to shoot his cell footage, his parents Neil Walton and Jane Clay stood behind their “brave” son.

Parents of Carl Walton: Neil Walton and Jane Clay at their Wollongong home.

“He’s a legend and I support what he did,” former miner Neil Walton said at their Wollongong home.

“But there will be repercussions on him for making that video with the inmates and guards — they won’t be happy with him when they get out.”

In 2014, Neil Walton was caught by sniffer dogs trying to smuggle the veterinary drug “butte” into the South Coast Correctional Centre when he went to visit Carl and appeared before court.

In his video, Carl Walton said jail was a “deadset joke” and “ruining lives”.

“See all that, that’s the drug ice. Why have I got it? ­Because I can,” he is recorded saying. As a football player Walton played alongside future NRL players and had lined up for Dapto, Corrimal and Illawarra junior teams.

But he has been in trouble with the police since he was 15, according to court documents.

He continually breached control orders but was not locked up until early 2008 for passing a valueless cheque.

The once promising footy player with his girlfriend Laura.

In his video, Walton said jail was a “deadset joke” and “ruining lives”.

He was expelled from school after completed Year 9 and did a year at TAFE qualifying as a cement renderer and has a 12-year-old son.

His longest sentence of seven years, five months with a non-parole period of four years, five months was ­imposed in November 2008 after he was convicted of ­assault and aggravated robbery of three people at Bellambi railway station and Corrimal with three others, including his younger brother.

“The public has a right to expect to be able to travel by train without being assaulted and robbed and otherwise put in fear by drunken hooligans,” Judge Jack Goldring said when sentencing Walton in Wollongong District Court in 2008. Court documents state he was abusing alcohol and ice since at least 2007 when he told the Probation and Parole Service he had “come to terms with his substance abuse problem” and Judge Goldring said there were “some good prospects of rehabilitation”.

Officers speak with an inmate in Parklea jail.

His mum said her sons were not angels.

“But no mum wants their child lost in that system,” Ms Clay, a former dancer, said.

“It’s not a correctional ­centre to me, it’s an ‘f-up’ ­centre. When he went in the first time he was dibbling and dabbling in drugs and made some bad choices in life.

“He doesn’t want to touch drugs but it’s there, it’s all in the system, it’s everywhere.

“Something good has to come out of this video, and if Carl can show how corrupt it is, we’re behind him.

“I pray he doesn’t go back in, he’ll be dead if he does.”

Corrective Services officers have cracked down on inmates in Parklea, searching cells.

A police spokeswoman said investigations were continuing into the “reported introduction of contraband into a corrective services facility.”

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said many inmates came into custody with existing alcohol and drug problems.

“All NSW correctional centres offer alcohol and drug programs for inmates, as well as counselling and psychology services,” she said.

“In addition to these programs inmates are provided with education, training and employment opportunities.”

She said there were daily searches for banned items on inmates, visitors, cells and all common areas.

SNAPSHOT OF CARL’S CRIMINAL PAST

Early 2008:Jailed for the first time for short period for passing a valueless cheque.

June 2008: Convicted of aggravated robbery, affray and theft.

December 2006: Jailed for maximum 7 years 5 months with a non-parole period of 4 years 5 months.

August 2016:Back in Parklea Correctional Centre for damaging property, driving while disqualified and resisting arrest, films video on mobile phone.

Mid-June 2017: Released on parole.

June 29, 2017:Posts video of cell on Youtube.