Riot breaks out at Metropolitan Remand Centre on eve of jail smoke ban
A SMOKING ban in jails sparked a riot that raged through the night at the state’s biggest remand centre.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A SMOKING ban in jails sparked a riot that raged through the night at the state’s biggest remand centre.
Heavily armoured police remained on guard at the entrance to the Melbourne Remand Centre into the early hours of Wednesday as several prisoner transport van came and went from the maximum security prison.
Up to 60 inmates began the riot, which swelled into hundreds of prisoners breaching a “secure inner perimeter’’ at the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall.
Staff, guards and visitors were evacuated as chaos broke out about 12.20pm on Tuesday.
Inmates armed themselves with sticks, lit fires and smashed windows while others commandeered tractors and buggies in a tense standoff.
Heavily armed police in riot gear, backed by an armoured blast proof vehicle called the “bear cat’’, moved in to restore order at 3.30pm.
Rioting inmates were peppered with tear gas as they breached a control room.
A water cannon was also unleashed.
Some prisoners protected their identity by donning masks with a core group maintaining the rage into the night.
It is understood that members of the Hells Angels and Comancheros are housed at the prison and ripped down fences to reach each other.
The MRC riot triggered a lockdown at the nearby Port Phillip Prison, where a fire was lit in a cell.
Corrections Victoria announced that there was no threat to the public or any injuries during the “disturbance’’, but Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard later admitted it was the biggest riot she was aware of.
“It might be to do with the smoking ban that starts (Wednesday),’’ Ms Shuard said.
Ms Shuard said management for prisoners had been planned for 18-months leading up to Wednesday.
But they had no idea a riot was coming and all Victorian prisons were in lockdown.
Ms Shuard also said she also did not know how prisoners obtained weapons as she promised a full investigation.
“Absolutely, we will thoroughly review how this came about, how we responded to it and what we might need to do in the future.”
However, the husband of an MRC guard told the Herald Sun prison officers were aware there would be a riot on the eve of the smoking ban.
“At 8.30am my wife rang and said there was going to be a riot,’’ he said.
“She rang and said ‘if you hear about a riot, don’t worry, I’ll be fine’.’’
“My grievance is the prison authorities knew there was going to be a riot but authorised the release of prisoners out of their cells.’’.
Authorities were forced to cordon off the prison with an air exclusion zone.
A police drone hovered over the prison as smoke billowed from inside as fire crews and ambulances were on standby outside the jail.
The MRC, which has 1000 beds, has 200 staff.
Inmates awaiting trials at the centre are believed to include accused killer Sean Price and Comanchero “road captain’’ Thomas Laslo.
When the riot began a solicitor rang her firm to tell them she was trapped at the prison.
The solicitor was approached by security and told “it’s no longer safe for you to be here”.
A source said the canteen began running out of cigarettes about a week ago, fuelling tensions at the prison.
“The crooks were at a flashpoint and the staff, who also can’t smoke, were getting testy,’’ he said.
“It’s been a tinderbox waiting for a match.’’
There have been several incidents at the MRC and Port Phillip Prison this year, one in which two guards were attacked and hospitalised.
Stocks of tobacco were also regularly being found in routine cell checks and inmates had been seen burying supplies in gardens ahead of the ban.
Prisoners who smoke were also reportedly bullying non-smoking inmates into buying the weekly quota of cigarettes to add to their supplies.
“This is just the start — all hell is going to break out come July when they are stopped from lighting up,” a prison source said at the time.
Nicotine patches will be offered to prisoners to satisfy their cravings, and 24-hour access will be given to the Quitline telephone support service.
The Ravenhall jail was also the scene of another wild riot in August 2012, when a prisoner was bashed amid a damage bill of $320,000.
FAST FACTS
The Metropolitan Remand Centre at Ravenhall is 25km west of the Melbourne CBD.
It is located next to the Western Freeway near Robinsons Rd.
The centre, opened in 2006, is a high-security remand facility operated by the Victorian Department of Justice.
Most of its inmates are waiting on the outcome of their court case.
Some have been sentenced but on appeal.
The centre has four general units each with 75 beds, a protection unit of 100 beds called Deakin, 200 beds in special units including for young prisoners, and a management unit of 13 beds.
The 100-bed protection unit is divided into three areas.
A new medium security prison is being built at Ravenhall opposite the remand centre, due for completion in 2017.