Prisoner films himself on a mobile phone showing off a knife, ‘slasher’ razor blade and ice inside Parklea jail
UPDATE: Private-run prisons were today accused of ‘breeding crime’ after a maximum security inmate high on the drug ice posted a shocking video online flaunting a knife and boasting about his stash of narcotics.
SELF-filmed vision of an inmate at Parklea prison with a knife, ‘slasher’ razor and ice inside the private jail highlights the need for publicly run prisons, the NSW prison officers’ union said today.
Prsion bosses are holding crisis talks today after a maximum security prisoner high on ice posted a shocking video of himself made in his cell flaunting a knife and razor and boasting about the drugs he has.
Prisons Minister David Elliott is “horrified” at the security breach and says the contract with the private operators of Parklea Correctional Centre was being reviewed and the GEO Group, which also runs Junee Correctional Centre, could face penalties.
But the Public Service Association, the union covering NSW prison officers, said society couldn’t afford to privatise prisons.
“The only way we find out about these issues is by inmates filming themselves - what sort of
system is that?” said PSA General Secretary, Stewart Little.
“There is no transparency or accountability in private prisons.No private company should be profiting from crime.
“These poorly managed, under resourced prisons are just incubators for worse problems that are
later unleashed back into society.”
An investigation has been launched into whether a corrupt prison officer smuggled the drugs, knife and mobile phone into the jail.
The outrageous video, uploaded to YouTube on June 29, shows prisoner “Nick” and his cellmate, with Nick claiming the haul of contraband was given to him by guards.
Nick slashes the wall with the knife and says: “That’s just an example of what it can do to your throat. OK. That’s a slasher.
“This place is a deadset joke. Right now in my cell I have a mobile phone. Why have I got a mobile phone? It’s because screws bring mobile phones into the jail for money.”
Corrective Services NSW said it would meet with GEO Group today to “discuss security and safety concerns”.
“I was horrified when I saw the video and immediately called for an investigation,” Mr Elliott said. “No stone will be left unturned. I have asked CSNSW to review the contract to see what penalties could be imposed if there has been a failure by the operator.”
Officers with the elite Security Operations Group raided a number of maximum-security cells at Parklea on Saturday after the video was discovered — but one of the prisoners featured in the video is already out on parole and the other is in medium security, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
One of the men in the video was serving two years and six months for damaging property, driving while disqualified and resisting arrest. The other was serving six months for stealing property and is due to be released in September.
GEO Group states on its website it is the “country’s leading provider of outsourced correctional services. More than 3800 prisoners are managed safely and securely at our correctional facilities.”
No one from GEO Group returned requests for a comment yesterday.
It has been criticised for running jails on a shoestring budget with fewer staff than in government-run jails and was embarrassed last year when locks had to be changed after an inmate stole a set of keys as he was released from Parklea.
“This incident … demonstrates the lack of security that exists when you do things on the cheap,” John Heffernan, former governor of Grafton Jail, said.
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