Former prison guard reveals all about life at Australian maximum security prison Long Bay

WHAT really goes on at Australian maximum security prison, Long Bay? According to a former guard, lots and lots of sex.

Aerial from Google earth of Long Bay Jail in Malabar Sydney

WHAT really goes on at Australian maximum security prison, Long Bay? According to a former guard, lots and lots of sex.

William*, a prison guard who worked at the Sydney prison for 11 years, said on Wednesday that if he had a dollar for every time he’d caught prisoners having consensual sex in their cells, he could’ve retired after five years.

“It doesn’t happen in the showers, it happens in the privacy of their cells at night,” he told Kiis 106.5’s breakfast show.

“There’s more action in prison than an after-party at the Mardi Gras.”

Long Bay, known as “Australia’s hardest prison”, opened in 1909 and has housed some of Australia’s most violent prisoners. Among them are serial killer Archie “Mad Dog” McCafferty and gang rape leader Bilal Skaf.

William said prisoners often denied having sex but almost all engaged in one way or another.

“They all claim they don’t do it,” he said. “They all say they’re macho and homophobic but they are doing it every night, every one of them. If they do more than six months in prison, they are having sex.”

He said prison officials handed out 10,000 condoms a year at Long Bay.

“The mathematics (speaks for itself),” he said.

The former guard, who disguised his voice and did not use his real name to protect his identity, said prisoners traded sex for food and drink.

“Sex is used as a trade off — a popular prisoner at Long Bay would (perform sex acts) for a can of Coke.

Prisoners traded sex for Coca Cola, according to a former prison guard at Long Bay.

“In the mornings when we used to let them out of their cells it was common term to say things like, ‘Get out of your mates and out of the cell’. (Sex) was a very popular thing and it still is.”

He said drugs were regularly found inside prison cells, most commonly smuggled in by friends and family members during visits.

“In society, the majority of people are not drug addicts. In prison, the majority of people are drug addicts. Desperate people do desperate things.”

Prison guards at Long Bay were investigated for corruption in 2012. The Herald Sun reported one officer was suspended and several guards were caught up in the ICAC investigation. Warden Pene Te Hira was stood down.

The inquiry was also investigating whether inmates were paying guards to be placed in cells of their own.

ICAC published its findings in January, 2013. Among the findings were that Mr Te-Hira engaged in corrupt conduct by trafficking contraband including food, clothing and shoes and giving steroids to an inmate.

ICAC recommended a number of changes, including limiting interaction between guards and inmates.

*William’s name has been changed to protect his identity